JAKARTA (UCAN): Pope Francis’ plans to visit Timor-Leste have been confirmed for this year, according Monsignor Marco Sprizzi, the chargé d’affaires of the apostolic nunciature to the country.
“We can confirm Pope Francis’ intention to visit Timor-Leste this year. I also met with him and I can confirm his decision,” Monsignor Sprizzi said on March 1.
Speaking to reporters in Dili after meeting Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhaes, chairperson of the Council of Ministers, the monsignor said he could not give any dates yet but said, “The thoughts of the Holy See are with the Timorese people and state at any moment in the democratic life of Timor-Leste.”
State news agency, Tatoli, quoted him as saying, “Pope Francis has Timor-Leste at his heart.”
The pope was supposed to have visited Timor-Leste, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea in September 2020, but the trip was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In July last year, Monsignor Sprizzi said the visit to Timor would depend on the country’s vaccination process.
If that’s going to happen, as a citizen of Timor-Leste, which is a small country, I’m proud and moved because it means two popes will have set foot on our land
Brother Fernandez
As of February 28, about 754,800 adults, or 84.7 per cent, had received their first dose while 71.8 per cent had been fully vaccinated, according to official data.
Apart from having started administering booster vaccines, with 7,000 having received injections, the country of around 1.3 million people is also trying to vaccinate students aged between 12- and 18-years-old, of which 37,509 (20.6 per cent) have received their first dose and 30,126 (16.6 per cent) have already fully vaccinated.
Franciscan Brother Roberto Fernandez, a teacher, said he fully hopes the pope’s visit will take place and he will pray that all obstacles can be overcome.
“If that’s going to happen, as a citizen of Timor-Leste, which is a small country, I’m proud and moved because it means two popes will have set foot on our land,” Brother Fernandez said.
Pope St. John Paul II was the first pope to visit Timor-Leste in 1989, when the country was still under Indonesian control.
“I hope that this visit will be able to bring about a change for our young and growing country and also for Catholics, who I think are experiencing a crisis of faith and morals,” said Brother Fernandez, who teaches at St. Francis Assisi School in Fatuberliu, Manufahi district, about 190 kilometres south of Dili.
