Basílio do Nascimento Martins (14 June 1950 – 30 October 2021) was the East Timorese Roman Catholic Bishop of

Baucau Baucau (, ) is the second-largest city in Timor-Leste, after Dili, the capital, which lies to its west. Baucau has about 16,000 inhabitants, and is the capital of Baucau municipality, located in the eastern part of the country. In the time ...

. He was born in Suai, then

Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor () was a Portuguese colony on the territory of present-day East Timor from 1702 until 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in the regio ...

. He later moved to Portugal, where he was ordained as a priest in

Évora Évora ( , ), officially the Very Noble and Ever Loyal City of Évora (), is a city and a municipalities of Portugal, municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of . It is the historic capital of the Alentejo reg ...

, in 1977. He worked for 20 years in Portugal and France before returning home in 1994, which was at the time under

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n occupation. He became apostolic administrator of the new Diocese of Baucau on 30 November 1996 and titular bishop on 6 January 1997. When

Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, SDB, commonly known as Carlos Belo or Ximenes Belo (born 3 February 1948) is an East Timorese prelate of the Catholic Church. He became a bishop in 1988 and served as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of ...

retired, Nascimento became apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Dili, until the new Bishop of Dili, Alberto Ricardo da Silva, was installed on 6 March 2004. Nascimento then became the Bishop of Baucau. In October 1999, the President of the National Council of Timorese Resistance

Xanana Gusmão José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão (; born 20 June 1946) is an East Timorese politician. He has served as the 6th prime minister of East Timor since 2023, previously serving in that position from 2007 to 2015. A former rebel, he also served as E ...

thanked Bishop Nascimento for the support of the Church in the struggle for independence. Concerned that the names of the thousands of lives lost during Indonesia's occupation of the country will be forgotten in the name of reconciliation with Indonesia, on 21 January 2006 he said that reconciliation with Jakarta without justice is meaningless. From the establishment of the (CET) in April 2012 until 2019, Nascimento served as its inaugural President. On 31 March 2018, Nascimento collapsed during Mass at St. Anthony's Cathedral in Baucau and was rushed to Dili National Hospital. He recovered and was discharged on 4 April 2018. He was the head of the East Timorese Bishops' conference. Bishop do Nascimento died from a heart attack on 30 October 2021, in the Guido Valadares National Hospital in

Dili Dili (Portuguese language, Portuguese and Tetum language, Tetum: ''Díli'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Timor-Leste. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountai ...

. The President of East Timor

Francisco Guterres Francisco Guterres, popularly known as Lú-Olo (born 7 September 1954), is an East Timorese politician who served as 6th president of East Timor from 2017 to 2022. He is also the president of the political party Fretilin, and he was the first ...

awarded Nascimento with the country's highest honour, the

Order of Timor-Leste The Order of Timor-Leste () is the highest Order (honour), honour currently awarded by Timor-Leste. Established in 2009, the order was created after the original honours granted by Timor-Leste. It is of a more general and broader nature than the ...

.''Catholic Weekly'', Australia, 14 November 2021

Honours

References

External links

Basílio do Nascimento at ''catholic-hierarchy.org''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nascimento, Basilio do 1950 births 2021 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Dili Roman Catholic bishops of Baucau East Timorese Roman Catholic bishops Christian clergy in Timor-Leste People from Cova Lima Municipality East Timorese expatriates in France Expatriates in Portugal 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Timor-Leste Recipients of the Order of Timor-Leste East Timorese expatriates