As the Church in Timor-Leste prepares for Pope Francis’ visit, the Dili Archdiocese’s vicar general says the event’s motto emphasises the close link between the Catholic faith of the East Timorese people and their culture and recent troubled history. Source: Vatican News.
Pope Francis will be the second pontiff to visit Timor-Leste, after St John Paul II, who made a brief stop in the capital, Dili, in 1989, during his Apostolic Journey to the Far East. The saint drew international attention to the plight of the East Timorese people under the repressive Indonesian rule.
During his three-day stay, Pope Francis is scheduled to meet with local clergy and religious, young people and to preside over Mass at the Tasi Tolu complex, in Dili, the same site where St John Paul celebrated Mass 35 years ago.
More than 700,000 faithful from across Timor-Leste and also neighbouring Indonesia and other countries are expected to attend.
In the youngest nation in Asia (which attained independence in 2002 after over two decades of struggle and a UN-backed referendum in 1999), with a Catholic majority of 96 per cent, preparations for the visit are in full swing.
Vicar general Fr Graciano Santos Barros, said the motto – “May your faith become your culture” – is an invitation to Timorese Catholics to live their faith in harmony with their cultural heritage. The priest noted that it is also a reminder of the close link between their Catholic faith and the troubled decades of the Indonesian occupation.
“Faith has accompanied each of our steps, in suffering and in hope,” he said. “Today, 25 years after the referendum for independence, we can look at our history with a reconciled heart, recognising the work of God who has illuminated the minds and hearts of men in many crucial moments”.
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Struggle for independence has made Catholic faith stronger in Timor-Leste (By Lisa Zengarini, Vatican News)
