Pope's visit to deeply Catholic East Timor eagerly awaited

From Kate LambReuters

When Pope Francis lands in the East Timorese capital Dili this week, he will land in a completely different country than the one his predecessor visited.

The last papal visit to Dili took place in 1989, when Pope John Paul II reached the then Indonesian-occupied territory and gave East Timor's fledgling independence movement a historic boost and rare prominence on the world stage.

“It was an opportunity for us to express our right to fight for our liberation,” recalled Father Francisco Barreto, who was in the crowd when protesters unfurled banners demanding independence for the first time in front of the world's television cameras.

As one of the world's youngest and predominantly Catholic states prepares for a second papal visit, the 72-year-old priest said the goal in East Timor was to rebuild the impoverished island nation.

“This visit is a grace from God,” Barreto said by phone from Dili, where he works as a hospital and prison chaplain.

“It will bring new life, new energy to our struggle for the progress of this nation… Politics and economics are not healthy.”

After decades of brutal occupation by Indonesia, East Timor, or Timor-Leste, gained independence in 2002 following a United Nations-supervised referendum.

But the country of 1.3 million people is struggling to diversify its oil- and gas-dependent economy, promote political renewal and curb corruption.

Pope Francis' visit, part of a tour that includes stops in Jakarta and Singapore, is expected to cause a stir in Dili, despite a series of abuse scandals rocking the church.

In 2022, the Vatican confirmed that it had sanctioned Timorese bishop and Nobel Prize winner Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo after he was accused of sexually abusing boys in Timor in the 1990s. A year earlier, a dismissed American priest was sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually abusing girls in his care in Timor.

The events have created a divide in views.

“Some Timorese are strongly opposed to thinking about these horrific cases because the church played an important historical role in the successful realization of self-determination,” says Michael Leach of Australia's Swinburne University.

It is unclear whether Pope Francis will comment on the disagreements, but thousands are expected to flock to the seaside capital anyway.

“The turnout will be astonishing,” said Leach. “Catholicism is one of the things that unites the Timorese.”

Before Pope Francis' visit to Dili, a welcoming message was placed along the street.
Photo: YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP

“Backbone of the resistance”

The Catholic Church is so closely linked to East Timor’s struggle for freedom that independence hero and current Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao called it the “backbone of the resistance.”

Before the invasion of Indonesia in 1975, the Timorese were largely animist and spoke local languages. Under Indonesian law, they were forced to adopt one of the six official religions, and animism was not an option.

Conversion to Catholicism became a way to refuse integration into predominantly Muslim Indonesia. The proportion of people who identified themselves as Catholic rose to over 95 percent at the time of independence, compared to less than 30 percent before 1975.

“For nationalists, conversion to Catholicism was the best solution. The whole idea of ​​a Timorese nation dates back to that time,” says Leach.

Even diplomats and journalists rely on trusted church officials. They are well informed, have the courage to talk about the reality on the ground and can often confirm a counter-narrative to that put forward by those in charge in Jakarta, says Donald Greenlees, a senior adviser to Asialink at the University of Melbourne.

“The church was a source of information, a refuge and, most importantly, spiritual support and comfort,” says Greenlees, a former foreign correspondent who was working in Timor at the time.

“It also gave moral legitimacy to independence and helped keep the issue at stake at the United Nations and elsewhere.”

Bishop Belo in particular continued to lobby the Vatican and the United Nations.

East Timor's devout Catholics have not forgotten that Pope John Paul II was the only head of state to visit the country during the decades-long occupation, nor his stirring sermon condemning the bloodshed.

When he died in 2005, three days of national mourning were declared.

In Dili, preparations are already in full swing: the government has allocated 12 million US dollars for the Pope's visit, which is part of a marathon tour through four countries, including Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Singapore.

“It will be a huge celebration, but there are concerns about the cost,” said Jose Trindade, a former government official.

“We are expecting $4 million a day. That is a lot of money for a poor country like Timor-Leste.”

– Reuters