Conference "The Church and its Timorese face”
The Prime Minister, Dr. Rui Maria de Araújo, participated at the Conference “The Church and its Timorese face”, on April 9th in the Lahane Palace, in Díli.
The Conference was organized by the Dom Jaime Garcia Goulart Institute of Philosophy and Theology. In the immediate aftermath of the funeral celebrations of the Most Reverend Dom Alberto Ricardo da Silva, the Prime Minister, in his address, recalled Dom Alberto stating that he was “a man of the Church, a man of his country” and “a face that history will never forget and that represents so well the role that the Timorese Church played in the struggle for National Liberation”.
The Head of Government also mentioned two other men of the Church, decisive in the struggle for independence: the former bishops of Díli, Dom Martinho da Costa Lopes and the Nobel Peace Prize, Dom Ximenes Belo.
Dr. Rui Maria de Araújo recalled the influence of the Church in Timor-Leste self-determination and during the colonial period, recognizing that “it is precisely this contact with the Church and the Portuguese missionaries, who unquestionably contributed to create an identity in our half island in South East Asia that I would describe as being unique.”
This year is celebrated the arrival of the Portuguese to the Timorese territory, the Prime Minister also said that “500 years ago Portuguese missionaries disembarked in Lifau and brought to Timor-Leste something that differentiates Timor-Leste from our neighbours - the Catholic religion.
Elements of the Timorese church also attended the conference, including the Bishop of Baucau and the Apostolic Administrator of Díli, Dom Basílio do Nascimento, and the Bishop of Maliana, Dom Norberto Amaral, as well as the Presidential Chief of Staff, Fidelis Magalhães, members of Government,of the National Parliament and students.
