Norberto Do Amaral
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Norberto do Amaral (born 17 February 1956) is the Roman Catholic Bishop of Maliana,
East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...
. He was appointed on 30 January 2010. Previously, he served as an assistant pastor and as a pastor, as Rector of the Diocesan Minor Seminary in the
Diocese of Díli In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...
, and in other offices in the
Catholic Church in East Timor The Catholic Church in Timor-Leste is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. Organization Upon its independence from Indonesia, Timor-Leste became only the second predominantly Catholic count ...
.


Early life and education

Amaral was born in Ainaro in the 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 ...
(now East Timor), and attended the local elementary Catholic school. Between 1981 and 1983, he studied philosophy at the Seminary of Our Lady of Fatima at
Dare Dare may refer to: Places * Dare, Vera Cruz, a ''suco'' in Vera Cruz administrative post, Dili Municipality, Timor-Leste * Darè, Italy, a comune * Dare County, North Carolina, United States * Dare, Virginia, United States, an unincorporate ...
in the then
Dili District Dili Municipality (, ) is one of the 14 municipalities, formerly districts, of Timor-Leste, and includes the national capital Dili. The municipality had a population of 277,279 , most of whom live in the capital city. Etymology Several expla ...
. In 1984, Amaral carried out a year of pastoral ministry in the parish of Ossu, in the then
Viqueque District Viqueque (, ) is the largest of the municipalities (formerly districts) of East Timor. It has a population of 77,402 (Census 2010) and an area of 1,877 km2. The capital of the municipality is also named Viqueque. Etymology The word ''V ...
. From 1985 to 1988, he studied theology at the Major Seminary of St. Peter in Ritapiret,
Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Administratively, it forms the largest island in the East Nusa Tenggara Province. The area is 14,250 km2. Including Komodo and Rinca islands ...
, Indonesia.


Ministry


Priesthood

On 18 October 1988, Amaral was ordained as a priest for the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Díli The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dili (; ; ) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Timor-Leste. Centered in Dili, the country's capital and largest city, it has two suffragan dioceses, Baucau and Maliana. The oldest of the T ...
. He later served in the following positions in that diocese: Assistant Pastor of the Parish of Ainaro, 1988; Pastor of the Parish of
Maubisse Maubisse (''Maubesse, Mau-Bessi, Maobisse, Maubise'') is a historic town in the hills 70 km south of Dili, in Ainaro Municipality, East Timor. It is a popular tourist destination and a weekend visiting spot for people from the capital. T ...
, 1989–2000; Rector of the Diocesan Minor Seminary in Dili, 2000–2004. In 2005–2007, Amaral undertook studies for a licentiate in
dogmatic theology Dogmatic theology, also called dogmatics, is the part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and God's works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Chu ...
at the
Pontifical Urban University The Pontifical Urban University, also called the ''Urbaniana'' after its names in both Latin and Italian, is a pontifical university that was under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The university's mission is to ...
in Rome. From 2007, he was Professor of Dogmatic Theology and Prefect of Studies at the Major Seminary in Dili. From 2008, he served as Chancellor of the Diocese of Dili and Director of the Diocesan Magazine ''Seara''.


Episcopacy

When Pope
Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation on 28 Februar ...
erected the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Maliana The Roman Catholic Diocese of Maliana (Latin: ''Dioecesis Malianensis''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Diocese de Maliana''; Tetum language, Tetum: ''Dioseze Maliana'') is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Timor-Leste. The ne ...
on 30 January 2010, he appointed Amaral as its first bishop. Amaral was consecrated by Archbishop
Leopoldo Girelli Leopoldo Girelli (born 13 March 1953) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who serves as the apostolic nuncio to India and Nepal. He was nuncio to Israel and Cyprus as well as apostolic delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine from 2017 to 2 ...
, the then apostolic nuncio to East Timor, on 24 April 2010, with Alberto Ricardo da Silva, Bishop of Díli, and Basílio do Nascimento, Bishop of Baucau, as co-consecrators, and was installed the following day. The consecration ceremony was held at the Sanctuary of
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 ...
, in Tasitolu, Dili, and the installation took place in Maliana. In August 2015, Amaral joined with Archbishop Girelli, Bishop Nascimento, 8,000 faithful, and Archbishop
Joseph Marino Joseph Salvador Marino (born January 23, 1953) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who worked in the Vatican diplomatic service from 1988 to 2019 and then served as president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy until 2023 ...
, the new apostolic nuncio to East Timor, in a celebration of 500 years of the Catholic Church's presence in East Timor. The main celebrant was Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal
Pietro Parolin Pietro Parolin (, ; born 17 January 1955) is an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic prelate who has served as the Holy See, Vatican's Cardinal Secretary of State, Secretary of State since 2013, and has served as a member of the Council o ...
. On 20 June 2017, Amaral blessed the new Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão International Airport in Suai during its official inauguration. Also present were President
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 ...
, Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araújo, former President and Prime Minister
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 ...
and many government and church leaders. Three months later, on 26 September 2017, Archbishop Marino, Bishop Nascimento and Amaral all attended the opening of St. Joseph Seminary, the country's second minor seminary, in Amaral's diocese. The new seminary, located within a refurbished building owned by a local diocesan school, was set to begin with 22 students. In 2019, Amaral took office as President of the (CET), in place of its inaugural President, Bishop Nascimento. On 26 March 2020, Amaral, along with Archbishop
Virgílio do Carmo da Silva Virgilio, the Italian and Spanish form of Virgil may refer to: * Virgilio, Lombardy, a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Borgo Virgilio in the Italian province of Mantua *Virgilio.it, a website People with the given name *Virgilio Barco Vargas (19 ...
and Bishop Nascimento, signed a statement confirming a decision of the Timorese Episcopal Conference cancelling mass during Easter in the whole of East Timor, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. In May 2020, the three bishops issued a statement officially reopening churches for Eucharistic celebrations. In early March 2022, in the lead up to that month's presidential election in East Timor, Amaral, together with Archbishop do Carmo da Silva and Father Alipio Pinto Gusmao, Administrator of the Baucau diocese, sent a pastoral letter to all Catholics stating that politics is a "sacrament", and asserting that: In April 2023, ahead of that year's East Timorese parliamentary election on 21 May, Amaral called upon politicians to "take a role in maintaining peace and stability" rather than "attack each other or spread hatred in the presence of supporters."


Personal life

At the end of February 2022, Amaral underwent intensive treatment at Guido Valadares National Hospital (HNGV) in Dili for
hypertension Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a Chronic condition, long-term Disease, medical condition in which the blood pressure in the artery, arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms i ...
. In March 2022, he flew to Malaysia for further medical treatment. He returned the following month.


References


External links


Norberto do Amaral at ''catholic-hierarchy.org''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amaral, Norberto do 1956 births Living people People from Ainaro Municipality 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Timor-Leste East Timorese Roman Catholic bishops Christian clergy in Timor-Leste Roman Catholic bishops of Maliana