Relations between the Holy See and East Timor

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Relations between the Holy See and East Timor
Location of the Holy See and East Timor
Holy SeeHoly See East TimorEast Timor
Holy See East Timor

The Holy See and East Timor are on friendly terms.

history

The Pope statue in the park in Tasitolu
In the church of the John Paul II monument

East Timor is, besides the Philippines , the only country in Asia with a Roman Catholic majority. The Roman Catholic Church consists of 97.6% of the population in East Timor.

The first landing of the Portuguese on Timor is considered to be the beginning of the evangelization of the island of Timor. On August 18, 1515, Portuguese Dominicans set foot on Timorese soil for the first time in what is now Oe-Cusse Ambeno . There were several conflicts between the Portuguese colonial government, which repeatedly led to the missionaries being banished from the island. Towards the end of Portuguese rule in 1975, only about 30 percent of the population professed to be Catholic.

Under Martinho da Costa Lopes , the apostolic administrator of Dili from 1977 to 1983, the Catholic Church developed into a great supporter of the East Timorese efforts for independence from the Indonesian occupation (1975-1999). Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo , the successor of Lopes and from 1988 Bishop of Dili , received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his commitment to East Timor together with José Ramos-Horta .

The visit of Pope John Paul II. October 12, 1989 in East Timor strengthened the confidence of the population and pushed the conflict for a short time back into the consciousness of the world public. After the Tasitolu Mass , a group of young people unfolded banners. They demonstrated for self-determination and against human rights violations. This embarrassing moment for Indonesia was followed by a wave of arrests and torture. The John Paul II Monument in Tasitolu commemorates the visit today. When John Paul II died in 2005, three days of state mourning was declared in East Timor.

East Timor, which has been independent since 2002, is a secular state and according to the constitution there is freedom of religion. In his inaugural address as Prime Minister in 2006 , however, José Ramos-Horta emphasized the importance of the Catholic Church as an element that unites the country and reconciles the various conflicting parties. On August 14, 2015, a concordat was signed between East Timor and the Vatican on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the evangelization of Timor . It defines the areas in which the Catholic Church can act independently of the state, for example in the case of spiritual care in prisons, hospitals and orphanages and in running its own schools at every level of education.

diplomacy

Shield of the Apostolic Nunciature in Dili

An Apostolic Nuncio has been based in Dili since 2003 .

Since 2007, East Timor has had an ambassador to the Holy See in Rome .

Entry requirements

For East Timorese there is no visa in the Vatican City.

Web links

Commons : Relations between the Holy See and East Timor  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Direcção-Geral de Estatística : Results of the 2015 census , accessed on November 23, 2016.
  2. ^ Image of the monument to the first Portuguese landing on Timor
  3. ^ Judith Bovensiepen, Frederico Delgado Rosa: Transformations of the sacred in East Timor , accessed December 27, 2017.
  4. ↑ Geoffrey C. Gunn: History of Timor ( Memento of the original from March 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 165 Technical University of Lisbon (PDF file; 805 kB). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / pascal.iseg.utl.pt
  5. ↑ BBC News: East Timor mourns 'catalyst' Pope , April 5, 2005 , accessed November 23, 2016.
  6. ^ Constitution of East Timor (Portuguese), accessed May 29, 2015.
  7. ↑ UCA news: Vatican, Timor-Leste sign bilateral agreement , August 14, 2015 , accessed on August 15, 2015.
  8. ↑ Timor-Leste Passport Holders: List of Countries That Offer Visa Free Entry , June 24, 2018 , accessed October 14, 2018.