Draft:Pope Francis' visit to East Timor

Pope Francis made a pastoral and state visit to Dili, Indonesia, from 9 to 11 September 2024. The visit was part of Pope Francis' 47th apostolic journey and the second visit by a pope to East Timor. Pope Francis previously visited Jakarta in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. After East Timor, the fourth stop will be Singapore.

Background

Statue of John Paul II at the Universidade Católica Timorense São João Paulo II named after him.

East Timor was under Indonesian occupation between 1975 and 1999. As a result of the occupation, almost 200,000 people lost their lives (around a fifth of the population). The Roman Catholic Church in East Timor supported the Timorese in their quest for independence and thus gained sympathy among the population. The proportion of Catholics in the population rose from around 30 percent to around 80 per cent by 1990. Pope John Paul II visited East Timor in 1989. John Paul II had generally declared that this was a pastoral visit, not a political one. When he got off the plane, he did not kiss the ground as he used to do when he entered a new country. However, at the beginning of his mass in front of 100,000 spectators in Tasitolu, John Paul II knelt down and kissed a crucifix lying on a cushion on the floor. Even though a Vatican spokesman described this as a normal part of the mass, some saw it as an acknowledgement of East Timor. The audience could not see the crucifix from their position, so the crowd cheered when the Pope stood up again. In addition, independence activists used the presence of the international press to unfurl banners promoting self-determination for East Timor and protesting against human rights violations. Since the visit, John Paul II has been greatly revered. A six-metre-high statue in Tasitolu commemorates him and, among other things, a university, the Universidade Católica Timorense São João Paulo II, is named after John Paul II.

In the 2022 census, the proportion of Catholics was 97.47%. This means that East Timor as a country has the highest proportion of Catholics (and Christians) in the population after Vatican City. Apart from East Timor, only the Philippines has a Catholic majority in Asia.

Preparations

The East Timorese government raised a total of 12 million US dollars for the Pope's visit. According to a critic from the Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis, the annual budget in the state budget for increasing food production was only 4.7 million US dollars. East Timor repeatedly suffers from food shortages in the dry season. Many children show signs of malnutrition. The rubbish on the streets of Dili has been removed. Mobile phone footage circulating on the internet showed how street vendors in the Kampung Baru district were brutally cleared out of the way by security officers on 3 September. The officers are also said to have threatened a journalist who wanted to report on the incident. Another was briefly arrested and taken to the local police station.

An altar was erected on a platform in Tasitolu for one million US dollars and an area of 23 hectares (about 40 football pitches) was prepared for the large mass. The displacement of 90 residents of Tasitolu, whose houses were demolished by bulldozers, caused criticism. The government stated that it had paid the eleven families between 7,000 and 10,000 US dollars in compensation and that the eviction was not related to the Pope's visit. The Tasitolu area was declared a peace park and protected area in 2000, but over the following years numerous families settled illegally around the three lakes. As early as September 2023, the residents of the neighbourhood were announced that they would be evicted. After the Pope's visit, a further 1,300 families are to be evicted from the land.

The government declared the three days of the Pope's visit national holidays.

Agenda

Monday, September 9, 2024

Francis landed at Presidente Nicolau Lobato Airport at 14:20 on Monday 9 September 2024 on board a special Papua New Guinea, Air Niugini flight from Port Moresby to Dili. He was greeted by President and Nobel Peace Prize Laurette, José Ramos-Horta. He then met Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão and two children in Timorese costume, who presented him with a tais, the country's traditional weaving cloth. This was followed by a brief conversation in the VIP lounge. The Pope later moved into his accommodation in the nunciature. In the afternoon, the official reception by President Ramos-Horta took place in the presidential palace. In his first speech, Francis praised and commended East Timor's efforts towards reconciliation with Indonesia in his native Spanish. He returned to the nunciature in the evening.

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

The next day, Francis visited Irmãs Alma, a school for disabled children, where he gave an impromptu speech in Spanish. Here he explained that disabled children could become teachers of love and care for others. This was followed by a meeting with the East Timorese bishops and other church representatives from the country to find out about the life of the local church. A woman religious said: ‘East Timor is an oasis of priests and religious vocations. And thank God it has also been able to send religious men and women to help other regions of the world. We are a blessed area where the majority of the population are children, adolescents and young people. Therefore, the future of the Church and the nation is bright and promising.’ However, the retired catechist Florentino de Jesus Martins also referred to the difficulties in the country, such as the lack of transport and adverse weather conditions. The priest Sancho Amaral told the Pope how he smuggled the military commander of the independence movement through Indonesian controls in his car during the occupation. The man in hiding was Xanana Gusmão, the current prime minister. In his speech to the church people in the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Dili, Pope Francis picked up on the story of Mary of Bethany, who anointed Jesus' feet with a precious oil (John 12:1-11). The priests and catechists should now preserve this ‘fragrance of the Gospel’. ‘We must always return to the origin of the gift we have received for being Christians, for being priests, for our lives as religious and catechists [...] My dears, you are the fragrance of Christ! And this symbol is not foreign to you. Here in Timor, sandalwood grows in abundance, with its fragrance, which is also much appreciated and sought after by other peoples and nations [...] You are the fragrance of the Gospel in this land.’ East Timor also needs a ‘new impetus in evangelisation’. Francis mentioned the ‘fragrance of reconciliation and peace after the painful years of war’, the ‘fragrance of compassion that helps the poor to get back on their feet’, and the ‘fragrance of justice against corruption’.

João Felgueiras receiving the Collar of the Order of Timor-Leste for his life's work in 2022

In the nunciature, Francis met 41 members of the Jesuit order from East Timor, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, to which the Pope also belongs. Among them was 103-year-old Father and missionary João Felgueiras. Pope Francis approached him as soon as he arrived and thanked the Father for his work in East Timor. The Pope spoke with the Jesuits for almost an hour in private. According to a Jesuit, the Pope emphasised the need to inculturate the Gospel and evangelise the culture of each country.

After so, the highlight of the entire visit was an open-air mass in Dili's Tasitolu district, where John Paul II had also held his mass. In 2006, the shores of the lakes of Tasitolu were still uninhabited. By 2024, huts of immigrants to the capital had been built on almost the entire area. On the left, the area of the racecourse that was developed for the fair. Around 600,000 people took part in the event, which was about twice the population of the state capital and almost half the population of the country. The faithful began arriving at the venue as early as 5 a.m., although access was not opened until later.