During a visit to Indonesian-occupied East Timor in 1997, a leading priest showed me the remarkable evidence of the Catholic Church’s outreach to the remote and forgotten corners of the rugged territory, despite the heavy presence of the Indonesian military.
Not only was Fr Domingos Soares’s parish of Letefoho overflowing at Sunday Mass, as he drove through the coffee-growing region he proudly pointed to the construction of numerous churches and chapels dotted across the mountain range. Fr Soares, whose fearless work made him known as “Father of the Nation”, explained how this building boom was driven from the ground up because people in the smallest villages and hamlets wanted their own places of worship.
Timorese people converted from their traditional animist faith to Catholicism en masse after Indonesia’s invasion in 1975, largely because church leaders like Fr Soares played an heroic role in protecting people and exposing the Indonesian military’s atrocities in the half-island territory.
During the worst years, the church was led by Monsignor Martinho da Costa Lopes, the vicar general of Dili, who called repeatedly for United Nations intervention and spoke out against Indonesian war crimes and imposed famine. Msgr Lopes unified the church by making a lingua franca, Tetum, the official language used in the liturgy. So great was his bravery during these dark years that The New York Times gave him an obituary when he passed away in 1991.
This heroic leadership explains why East Timor, which became the independent nation of Timor-Leste in 2002, is perhaps the only country in the world to have tripled the share of its Catholic population in the last half century. It now stands at 98 per cent, from around 30 per cent in 1975.
Indonesia gave some assistance, inadvertently, by requiring Timorese people to nominate a religion, but the miracle of Timorese independence is a case of solidarity and faith during the darkest times. It is a modern-day example of deliverance—a people whose prayers were answered. And the people have not forgotten this.
This phenomenal transformation in the faith of a nation was on display last week when almost half the population converged upon a dusty expanse of ground outside the capital, Dili, to join in Pope Francis’ celebration of the Mass. During Pope Francis’ three days in the country, tens of thousands lined the streets for six hours or more in the boiling sun to see the pontiff and welcome him to their country. Attending this two-hour Mass was indeed a rare experience and a privilege. In proportional terms, it surpasses that of St John Paul II’s historic Masses in Dublin and Warsaw in 1979.
The Catholics who attended were overwhelmingly young people in their 20s, who sang and responded to the liturgy wholeheartedly. Despite youthful exuberance, the atmosphere was entirely respectful. During the consecration, the only sound to be heard was the whirr of a distant generator.
Pope Francis was moved by the youthful vitality of Timor-Leste, a country that has experienced a post-war baby boom over the past 25 years. Since the 1999 referendum, the population has increased by around 450,000 people to 1.35 million. The average age is 21.
“There are two things that touched my heart as I passed through the streets … The youth of this country and the smile. You are a population who knows how to smile!” he told a youth gathering.
During his homily he said: “How wonderful that here in Timor-Leste there are so many children. Indeed, you are a young country, and we can see every corner of your land teeming with life.”
One of the pope’s key messages for the Timorese was not to allow western liberal values to undermine their faith and culture. Using the euphemism of the crocodile, which is abundant in Timorese waters, he said: “Be careful of those crocodiles that want to change your culture, your history.”
Cardinal Virgilio Do Carma Da Silva of Dili proudly told The Catholic Weekly: “This is the biggest event we have ever celebrated.” He said the church hoped the lasting impact of the visit would be that the “the faith would become part of the culture of Timor-Leste.” He said the visit of St John Paul II in 1989 was a catalyst for Timorese independence, and he believes this visit will become a generational event for the young country. “Everyone will feel this celebration is theirs,” he said.
“That’s what we have to work on, it is a long process. We have been running a series of six seminars on issues of culture, identity.”
Terezinha Dos Santos, 26, a student from Liquica, said that the Catholic teaching on forgiveness, about which the pope spoke during his visit, was fundamentally important to Timorese people because of their past experience with Indonesian occupation.
“The words in the Bible say we have to forgive each other. If we don’t forgive each other we will not go to heaven … even the people who don’t like us, show bad character to us, we have to forgive. We have to show our good character. Forgiveness is the way to go to heaven,” she said.
Leading lawyer Dr Aderito de Jesus Soares called for a “week of reflection” following the visit. “It is such a good message for the country,” adding that the environmental encyclical Laudato Si’ should be part of this reflection. Dr Soares said the focus on culture for the theme of the visit was “a bit shallow” and he called for a deeper reflection on “all of the pope’s agenda.”
Soares says the church needs to reflect because of the avarice shown by some elements of the clergy. He noted that Pope Francis touched on this when he addressed the Jesuits in Dili, saying that “the evils always come through your pocket.”
But Dr Soares added that the visit and its management showed how well organised and powerful the church remains after independence. “It is the only organisation in Timor-Leste that can mobilise the people. If they say no, it is very difficult for the government,” he said.
In a county often criticised for its lack of organisation and bureaucracy, the visit and the enormous Mass ran seamlessly. The organising committee made some inspired decisions, such as the purchase of 600,000 commemorative t-shirts, and tens of thousands of large umbrellas designed in the papal colours, which gave much needed shade under the hot sun. While the government allocated $US12 million for the visit, there few complaints about the cost.
The ABC correspondent Bill Birtles rated the organisation of the visit very highly and better than he expected. He was impressed with how people were able to get very close to the pope. “The vast majority were just thrilled that he was here,” he said.
Some Australians have asked why the pope didn’t include Australia in the Asian visit, given that he was so close. But former Bishop of Darwin Eugene Hurley, who has visited Timor many times, said the country was truly deserving of the visit. “No one deserves it more or would appreciate it more than the people of Timor-Leste,” he said.
“They are deeply faithful people and they have such a sense of privilege that the pope is visiting their country. I am just delighted to be here to enjoy the atmosphere and share in some tiny way with the people this moment of exhilaration,” he added.
The visit, however, could well mark the high point of the church’s influence in Timor-Leste, like Dublin in 1979. Although there are more than 200 seminarians in training and congregations of nuns are teaming with novices, some Timorese Catholics expressed concern about the lifestyle adopted by some clergy. Some live in palatial homes and have expensive cars and mobile phones, and some have built or are building grandiose churches amid grinding poverty.
Catholics point to the high costs imposed on the population for the sacraments of baptism, marriage and burial. Some clergy were now putting expiry dates on birth certificates so that they had to be regularly renewed for an additional fee.
The pope addressed the issue of child sex abuse in the church when he said during the visit: “Let us not forget the many children and adolescents whose dignity has been violated.” He then called on people to do “everything possible to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people.”
But neither the church nor the government have policies in place to deal with allegations of past abuse or to prevent it in the future. Significantly, the Vatican has taken action against Bishop Carlos Belo following allegations of sexual abuse of minors in the 1980s and 1990s. These allegations are an immense blow to the church, as Belo was a leading figure in the church’s support during the Indonesian years, which led to his jointly winning the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1996.
Despite these challenges, the momentum behind the Catholic Church in this country is indeed great, thanks to the sacrifices of so many Timorese.
Paul Cleary worked as an adviser to Prime Minister of Timor-Leste after independence. He is the author of “Shakedown: Australia’s grab for Timor oil,” and a history of Australia’s commando operations on Timor during WWII, The Men Who Came Out of the Ground.