The Roman Catholic Diocese of Maliana (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Dioecesis Malianensis''; Portuguese: ''Diocese de Maliana'';

Tetum Tetum may refer to: * Tetum language, an Austronesian language ** Tetum alphabet, used to write the Tetum language * Tetum people, an ethnic group of East Timor and Indonesia {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ...

: ''Dioseze Maliana'') is a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, prov ...

of the

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 ...

Timor-Leste 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 ...

. The newest of the country's three dioceses, it was established in 2010 by

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 his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

. It serves nearly 300,000 Catholics in the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Bobonaro Bobonaro is a town in Bobonaro Subdistrict, Bobonaro District, East Timor., United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The district capital is not in Bobonaro, but is in Maliana Maliana is a city in East Timor, 149 kilomet ...

Cova Lima Cova Lima (, ) is a municipality of East Timor, in the Southwest part of the country. It has a population of 59,455 (Census 2010) and an area of 1,230 km2. The capital of the municipality is Suai, which lies 136 km from Dili, the n ...

, and

Liquiçá Liquiçá (Tetum: ''Likisá'') is a coastal city in East Timor, 32 km to the west of Dili, the national capital. Liquiçá is the capital of Liquiçá District. The city has a population of 5,005 inhabitants. History A part of the colon ...

, covering a total area of 3,142 km² (1,213

square mile The square mile (abbreviated as sq mi and sometimes as mi2)Rowlett, Russ (September 1, 2004) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved February 22, 2012. is an imperial and US unit of measure for area. One square mile is equa ...

s). The current bishop since the diocese's founding is

Norberto do Amaral Norberto do Amaral (born 17 February 1956) is the Roman Catholic Bishop of Maliana, East Timor. 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 ...

. The

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral church, or ...

of the diocese is Sacred Heart Cathedral in

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 ...

. The diocese has 11

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

and 65 missions, and is served by 50

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

, 73

religious brother A religious brother (abbreviated Br. or Bro. as a title) is a laity, lay male member of a religious institute or religious order who commits himself to following Christ in consecrated life, usually by the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. E ...

s, and 131

religious sister A religious sister (abbreviated: Sr.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to prayer and ...

s. It operates a

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...

, St. Joseph Seminary, and a number of primary and secondary schools.

History

Until the 1990s, the entirety of what is now

comprised one ecclesiastical territory, the Diocese of Dili. In 1996, the Diocese of Baucau was formed. After independence in 2002, 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 ...

planned to create a third diocese centered in Same so that Timor-Leste could form its own

episcopal conference An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The fir ...

. However, these plans stalled around 2005 amidst ongoing changes by the government to the country's administrative subdivision boundaries. The Vatican's plan to create a third diocese in Timor-Leste materialized on 30 January 2010, when

established the Diocese of

, with territory taken from the Diocese of Dili.

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the Dili diocese, was appointed as Maliana's first bishop. Amaral was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

on 24 April 2010 in

Tasitolu Tasitolu (, or , ) is a protected area on the coast of Timor-Leste, west of the capital Dili. The Tasitolu wetlands include three saline lakes, an esplanade, and a beach; it has been designated a Wetland of National Significance. Tasitolu Pea ...

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 ...

, in a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister

José Luís Guterres José Luís Guterres (born 1954 Uato-Lari, Portuguese Timor) is an East Timorese politician and diplomat. Education Guterres studied at the University of Cambridge, the University of the Western Cape in South Africa, the Malaysian Institute o ...

, Supreme Court president Cláudio de Jesus Ximenes, attorney general

Ana Pessoa Pinto Ana Maria Pessoa Pereira da Silva Pinto (born January 5, 1956) is an East Timorese politician who served in several roles, including as the country's prosecutor general. She is a member of FRETILIN. Career Ana Pessoa was active in the Timor-L ...

, and other deputies, politicians, magistrates, diplomats, bishops, as well as thousands of priests, sisters, and

laity In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e ...

. Amaral was installed the following day in Maliana. 2016-08-16 Igreja de Santa Cruz Maliana 2

At the time of its creation, the diocese consisted of just over 200,000 Catholics, representing 98% of the population, and served by 10

, 31

(six

diocesan 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 25

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

), and 108

s and

sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

. The parish church of

became the diocese's new cathedral, and the government provided funding and a building for a temporary residence for the bishop. On 17 February 2019, a new episcopal palace and

chancery Chancery may refer to: Offices and administration * Court of Chancery, the chief court of equity in England and Wales until 1873 ** Equity (law), also called chancery, the body of jurisprudence originating in the Court of Chancery ** Courts of e ...

building were inaugurated in a ceremony attended by bishops Amaral,

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 ...

of Dili,

Basílio do Nascimento Basílio do Nascimento Martins (14 June 1950 – 30 October 2021) was the East Timorese Roman Catholic Bishop of Baucau. He was born in Suai, then Portuguese Timor. He later moved to Portugal, where he was ordained as a priest in Évora, in 1 ...

of Baucau, and former President

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 ...

. The new buildings were constructed with public funds provided by the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

's office. As of 2022, the diocese has grown to nearly 300,000 Catholics, and now has 11 parishes and 65 missions served by 50 priests and 184 religious brothers and sisters.

Structure

The Diocese of Maliana is a

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandr ...

within the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

. Along with the bishops of Baucau and Dili, the bishop of Maliana is a member of the Timorese Episcopal Conference. The conference is represented in the

Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences The Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) is an association of episcopal conferences of Catholic Church in South, Southeast, East and Central Asia. The federation fosters solidarity and joint responsibility for the welfare of the Church ...

Territory

The diocese covers a total area of 3,142 km² (1,213

s). Its territory comprises the western

, and

. The diocese borders the Archdiocese of Dili to the east and the Diocese of Atambua, located in

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, ...

West Timor West Timor () is an area covering the western part of the island of Timor, except for the district of Oecussi-Ambeno (an East Timorese exclave). Administratively, West Timor is part of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The capital as well ...

, to the west. The diocese has a total population of 297,620, of whom 290,850 (97.7%) are Catholic. The remaining few thousand are mostly Muslim, Protestant, or animist.

Personnel

The diocese is led by its bishop,

, who is assisted by

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

Lucio Norberto de Deus. As of 2022, the diocese has 22 secular priests, with 58

seminarians A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clerg ...

in formation. Additionally, there are 28 religious priests, 73 religious brothers, and 121 religious sisters living and working in the diocese. In 2021, there were 416

catechists Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the r ...

in the diocese. A number of religious orders and institutes operate in the diocese. For men, these include the

Capuchins Capuchin can refer to: *Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an order of Roman Catholic friars *Capuchin Poor Clares, an order of Roman Catholic contemplative religious sisters *Capuchin monkey, primates of the genus ''Cebus'' and ''Sapajus'', named af ...

Carmelites The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

Claretians The Claretians, officially named the Congregation of Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (; abbreviated CMF), is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men headquartered in Rome. It was f ...

Divine Word Missionaries The Society of the Divine Word (), abbreviated SVD and popularly called the Verbites or the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men. As of 2020, i ...

, and

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. Female institutes include the

Canossians The Canossians are a family of two Catholic religious institutes and three affiliated lay associations that trace their origin to Magdalen of Canossa, a religious sister canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988. Canossian family Canossian Daughte ...

, Carmelites, Daughters of the Queen of the Holy Rosary, Franciscan Hospitaller Sisters,

Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart The Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women based in Frankfort, Illinois, and located in the Catholic Diocese of Joliet, Illinois. The Sisters serve in healthcare, education, religious education, p ...

Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters The Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit, also known as Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, or simply Holy Spirit Sisters (Latin: ''Congregatio Missionalis Servarum Spiritus Sancti'', SSpS) is a religious congregation within the Catholic C ...

Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

, Religious of Mary Immaculate,

Religious of the Virgin Mary The Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary (, abbreviated RVM, is a Catholic centralized religious institute of consecrated life of Pontifical Right for women founded in Manila in 1684 by the Filipina Venerable Mother Ignacia del Esp� ...

Salesians The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

, and several others.

Parishes

The diocese is divided into 11 parishes, with 65 missions.

Bishops

(30 January 2010 – present)

Education

Fundação Sagrado Coração de Jesus (Sacred Heart of Jesus Foundation) oversees all of the Diocese of Maliana's schools. The diocese operates seven preschools with 291 total students, 19 primary schools and eight junior high schools with 6,122 total students, and five senior high schools with a total enrollment of 1,148. The diocese also runs an

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

. Secondary schools administered by the diocese include Ave Maria in Suai, Infante de Sagres College in Maliana, and São João de Brito in Liquiçá. Other Catholic schools located in the diocese include Cristal Private Secondary School in Maliana, Divine Word College in Palaca, and St. Ignatius of Loyola College in Kasait, founded by the Society of Jesus in 2013. The diocese is also home to Don Bosco Technical School near Maliana, established in 2013 by the Salesians with funding from the Timorese and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

governments, which provides

vocational training Vocational education is education that prepares people for a Skilled worker, skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self em ...

to 100+

boarding Boarding may refer to: *Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a: **Boarding house **Boarding school *Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where hor ...

students. The diocese contains one Catholic

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

institution,

St. John de Britto Institute St. John de Britto Institute also referred to by its acronym ISIB or by its Portuguese name ''Instituto São João de Brito'' is a private Catholic coeducational higher education institution run by the Timor-Leste Region of the Society of Jesus ...

, a Jesuit teachers' college in Kasait. On 26 September 2017, the Diocese of Maliana established a

, St. Joseph Seminary, with an initial enrollment of 22 students located in a renovated diocesan school building. Previously, minor seminarians from the diocese attended

Our Lady of Fatima Minor Seminary Our Lady of Fatima Minor Seminary (SENOFA; Portuguese: ''Seminário Menor de Nossa Senhora de Fátima'') is a Roman Catholic minor seminary located in Dili, Timor-Leste. Established in 1936, it is the country's oldest Roman Catholic seminary. ...

in Dili, which served the country's three dioceses and which had only 90 spots each year for more than 300 applicants. Major seminarians from the diocese attend the interdiocesan St. Peter and St. Paul Seminary in Dili.

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Diocese of Maliana 2010 establishments in Timor-Leste Christian organizations established in 2010 Maliana

History

Structure

Territory

Personnel

Parishes

Bishops

Education

See also

References

External links