- $1 million spent on new altar for Pope Francis’s visit.
- Pope John Paul II was the last to visit
- From 20% in 1975 to 97% today in Timor-Leste.
- Includes Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Singapore.
Pope Francis has urged for the protection of young people from abuse as he arrived in Timor-Leste, continuing his tour of Southeast Asia and Oceania.
Upon landing in the capital, Dili, on Monday, the Pope emphasized the need to remember the many children and adolescents whose dignity has been compromised. He called for comprehensive efforts to prevent all forms of abuse and to ensure a healthy, peaceful childhood for every young person.
Although he did not address specific cases, his visit follows recent allegations against a prominent East Timorese bishop, known for his role in the country’s independence, who has been accused of sexually abusing boys in the 1980s and 90s.
A Vatican spokesperson confirmed that the Church had been aware of allegations against Nobel Peace Prize-winning Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo since 2019 and had imposed disciplinary measures in 2020, including movement restrictions and a ban on contact with minors.
In an open letter, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in Oceania criticized the lack of compensation for victims and urged Pope Francis to allocate Church funds for their redress.
The Pope’s official schedule does not include meetings with victims, and it remains unclear if Bishop Belo will appear with him in Dili.
During his visit, Pope Francis also commended Timor-Leste—formerly East Timor—for its progress towards “peace and freedom” two decades after gaining independence from Indonesia. He praised the nation’s resilience through a challenging period and celebrated the emergence of a new era of peace.
Authorities have demolished homes and evicted dozens of residents from the area where a major mass is set to take place, drawing strong criticism from the local community.
Zerita Correia, a displaced resident, shared with BBC News that not only were their homes demolished, but their belongings were also destroyed, forcing her family to rent nearby as her children remain in school in the area.
The affected homes are in Tasitolu, a wetland area on the outskirts of the capital. Over the past decade, many people migrated from rural areas to Tasitolu, seeking work and constructing makeshift homes. The government contends that these residents are squatters without legal rights to the land.
A government minister informed the BBC that residents were notified of the eviction plans in September 2023.
Critics in Timor-Leste have raised concerns about the substantial expenditure for Pope Francis’s visit, including a $1 million (£762,000) expense for a new altar.
The UN reports that nearly half of Timor-Leste’s population lives below the national poverty line, leading some to question the allocation of funds for the visit.
This is the first papal visit to Timor-Leste since Pope John Paul II’s trip in 1989, during Indonesian occupation. When Indonesia invaded in 1975, only about 20% of East Timorese were Catholic; today, that number has risen to 97%.
Pope Francis’s tour also included Papua New Guinea, where about 25% of the population identifies as Catholic, and Indonesia, where the figure is 3%. He will conclude his regional visit in Singapore later this week.
