The Catholic Church in Timor-Leste is part of the worldwide

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, under the spiritual leadership of the

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Organization

Upon its independence from

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, ...

, Timor-Leste became only the second predominantly Catholic country in Asia (after the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

), a legacy of its status as a former Portuguese colony. About 98.3% of the population was Catholic in Timor-Leste in 2016, which meant over 1,000,000 faithful. The country was divided into three dioceses:

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 ...

, Baucau and

Maliana Maliana is a city in East Timor, 149 kilometers southwest of Dili, the national capital. It has a population of 22,000. It is the capital of the Districts of East Timor, district of Bobonaro District, Bobonaro and Maliana Subdistrict, and is ...

(erected in 2010). These dioceses are immediately subject to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. The Apostolic Nunciature to East Timor is Marco Sprizzi, who took over from Wojciech Załuski in 2022.

History

In the early 16th century, Portuguese and Dutch traders made contact with Timor-Leste. A Dominican mission was sent by the bishop of Malacca to Solor in 1562, and became established at Lifau in present-day Timor-Leste in 1641. Portugal took over and maintained control of Timor-Leste until 1974, with a brief occupation by Japan during World War II. Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and annexed the former Portuguese colony. East Timorese animist belief systems did not fit with Indonesia's constitutional

monotheism Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

, resulting in mass conversions to Christianity. Portuguese clergy were replaced with Indonesian priests (especially with Javanese priests) and Latin and Portuguese Mass was replaced by Indonesian Mass.Taylor, Jean Gelman (2003), p.381 Officially splitting from the Portuguese Church in 1975, the Church in East Timor never joined the Indonesian Church. The Church played an important role in society during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. While just 20% of East Timorese called themselves Catholics at the time of the 1975 invasion, the figure surged to reach 95% by the end of the first decade after the invasion. During the occupation, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo became one of the most prominent advocates for

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

in Timor-Leste and many priests and nuns risked their lives in defending citizens from military abuses.

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

's 1989 visit to Timor-Leste exposed the occupied territory's situation to world media and provided a catalyst for independence activists to seek global support. Officially neutral, the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

wished to retain good relations with Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation. Upon his arrival in Timor-Leste, the pope symbolically kissed a cross then pressed it to the ground, alluding to his usual practice of kissing the ground on arrival in a nation, and yet avoiding overtly suggesting Timor-Leste was a sovereign country. He spoke fervently against abuses in his sermon, whilst avoiding naming the Indonesian authorities as responsible. The pope spoke out against violence in Timor-Leste, and called for both sides to show restraint, imploring the East Timorese to "love and pray for their enemies." In 1996, Bishop Belo and José Ramos-Horta, two leading East Timorese activists for peace and independence, received the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

for ""their work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor". A number of priests and nuns were murdered in the violence in Timor-Leste that followed the 1999 independence referendum. The newly independent nation declared three days of national mourning upon the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005. The Catholic Church remains very involved in politics, with its 2005 confrontations with the government over religious education in school and the forgoing of war crimes trials for atrocities against East Timorese by

. They have also endorsed the new prime minister in his efforts to promote national reconciliation. In June 2006

Catholic Relief Services Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the Bishops of the United States, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 110 ...

received aid from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to help victims of months of unrest in the country. The number of churches grew from 100 in 1974 to over 800 in 1994. In 2015, the Salesians of Don Bosco and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, with the help of an international relief organization Stop Hunger Now, provided more than 1,100 students across the country with better nutrition through fortified rice-meals.

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

visited

from 9 to 11 September 2024.

Organization

History

See also

References

Further reading