Papal visit to East Timor in 1989
The Pope's visit to East Timor in 1989 was the 21st apostolic journey of John Paul II and the first visit by a Pope to East Timor .
background
The Portuguese Timor colony was being prepared for independence in 1975 when the civil war broke out between the conservative UDT and the left-wing FRETILIN . Because the neighbor Indonesia took advantage of the situation and began to infiltrate the border area, FRETILIN proclaimed independence on November 28, 1975, but only nine days later Indonesia began an open invasion. In 1976 it declared the annexation of East Timor, which was not recognized internationally. In East Timor, the FALINTIL fought against the occupation. Hunger, fighting and forced relocations left tens of thousands of civilians dead. The Roman Catholic Church in East Timor supported the local population. After the ban on Portuguese , Tetum , East Timor's lingua franca, became the liturgical language, and Bishops Dilis regularly denounced human rights violations by the Indonesian security forces. The proportion of Catholics rose from around 30% when the Portuguese left in 1975 to around 80% in 1989. In 1983 Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo became Apostolic Administrator and in 1988 Bishop of Dili. The proposal of the Roman Catholic Church to have a referendum on independence or remaining as a province of Indonesia led to new discussions about the future of the crisis region. In 1989, after a 14-year ban, access to East Timor's territory was partially opened by Indonesia, so that the world public now learned more often about the war and the repression in East Timor. Even Indonesia's governor in East Timor, Mário Viegas Carrascalão , regularly complained publicly about the catastrophic living conditions from which the population was suffering.
The visit of John Paul II
Pope John Paul II had previously been to South Korea and the journey would later continue to Mauritius . On October 9th, he reached Indonesia's capital Jakarta , and on October 11th, he visited the island of Flores , where there is a Catholic majority, in contrast to the majority Muslim Indonesia and just like in East Timor.
On October 12th, John Paul II arrived in Dili, the capital of East Timor . After the inauguration of the new Dili Cathedral donated by Indonesia, the high point of his visit was the mass in Dili's suburb of Tasitolu in front of 100,000 people. Tasitolu was known as the "killing field" where many victims of the Indonesian invasion and occupation were killed and buried.
In his sermon, John Paul II addressed the suffering of the East Timorese:
"For many years now, you have experienced destruction and death as a result of conflict; you have known what it means to be victims of hatred and struggle. Many innocent people have died, while others have been prey to retaliation and revenge. For too long you have been suffering a lack of stability which has rendered your future uncertain. This distressing situation causes economic difficulties which, in spite of some relief, still exist, preventing the development needed to alleviate the burden which still weighs hardly on the population. "
Despite the high police presence, young people unfolded banners with national slogans in the presence of the international press after the fair. They demonstrated for East Timor’s self-determination and against human rights violations. Chairs were blown on security officers, 40 people were arrested. There was torture. John Paul II paused briefly as he left to look at the argument, but then left the square. He was in no danger; The demonstrators clearly showed their affection for the Pope with “Viva Il Papa!” Shouts.
In general, John Paul II had stated that this was a pastoral, but not a political visit. When he got off the plane he hadn't kissed the ground like he used to do when entering a new country. At the beginning of mass, however, he knelt down and kissed a crucifix that was lying on a pillow on the floor. Even if a Vatican spokesman described this as a normal part of the mass, some saw it as a recognition of East Timor. The spectators and the Bishop of Dili could not see the crucifix from their position, so the crowd cheered when the Pope rose again.
consequences
The Pope's visit strengthened the self-confidence of the population and for a short time brought the conflict back into the world's public consciousness, which was tantamount to opening a sluice. Contact between the resistance against the occupation and the Western press was established. John Monjo , the American ambassador to Jakarta, traveled to Dili in January 1990 to investigate allegations of torture. In front of his whereabouts, the Hotel Turismo in Dili, there were small demonstrations on three consecutive days. In October, the Australian journalist Robert Domm managed to escape his Indonesian guards and interview the FALINTIL leader Xanana Gusmão in the mountains . A delegation from the Portuguese parliament has announced that it will be visiting East Timor in November 1991. This was canceled because of the circumstances, but Pieter Kooijmans , the UN special rapporteur on torture, was in Dili on November 11, 1991, which is why the funeral of the murdered activist Sebastião Gomes turned into a demonstration. The subsequent Santa Cruz massacre finally marked the beginning of international pressure on Indonesia to give East Timor its independence. East Timor has been an independent state since May 20, 2002.
Pope John Paul II is still highly venerated in East Timor today. When he died in 2005, a three-day state mourning was declared . A chapel with the roof of an Uma Lulik (traditional Timorese holy house) and, since 2008, a six-meter-high monumental statue of Pope John Paul II in front of the center of the Tasitolu Peace Park commemorates the visit . It stands on a hill and thus forms a counterpart to the statue of Jesus on the east side of the Bay of Dili in Cristo Rei . The proportion of Catholics in the total population in East Timor is now 97.6% (2015 census).
See also
Web links
- Homily of his holiness John Paul II (Homily of John Paul II in Tasitolu, October 12, 1989, tetum and English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ 81.6% in 1990, entry on the Pope's visit to East Timor in 1989 on catholic-hierarchy.org
- ↑ a b c d 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)
- ↑ a b c d e Frédéric B. Durand: History of Timor-Leste , pp. 122 & 123, ISBN 9786162151248 .
- ↑ a b Vatican.va: Far East and Mauritius (October 6-16 ) , accessed on November 22, 2016.
- ↑ CATHEDRAL RESTORATION. Retrieved October 15, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c d The New York Times : Melee Erupts as Pope Speaks in East Timor , 13. October 1989
- ^ Rei, Naldo (2007). Resistance: A Childhood Fighting for East Timor. Univ. of Queensland Press. P. 62 ff. ISBN 978-0-7022-3632-7
- ↑ BBC News: East Timor mourns 'catalyst' Pope , April 5, 2005 , accessed November 23, 2016.
- ↑ Tony Wheeler, Xanana Gusmao, Kristy Sword-Gusmao: East Timor Lonely Planet, London 2004, ISBN 1740596447
- ↑ Kirsty Sword-Gusmao, Pat Walsh : “Opening up”: travelers' impressions of East Timor, 1989-1991 , 1991, Australia East Timor Association
- ↑ Direcção-Geral de Estatística : Results of the 2015 census , accessed on November 23, 2016.
