The coordinating committee meets to discuss the state of play of preparations for Pope Francis' visit to Timor-Leste
On March 14th, 2024, a meeting of the committee coordinating the preparations for the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to Timor-Leste was held at the Government Palace in Dili. The meeting, led by the Minister for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Agio Pereira, as High-Level Institutional Coordinator for the papal visit, was attended by various members of the Government and representatives of public institutions involved in this mission. 
The agenda included the presentation of the visit programme reviewed by the Vatican and information about the arrival of the Holy See's advance team, which is scheduled for June.
During the session, several crucial points were discussed, from the preparation of the infrastructure in the area of the mass in Tasi Tolu, with emphasis on the design of the stage provided by the Vatican, to the detailed description of the budget for the preparations for the visit.
Various technical issues were discussed at the meeting, including the presentation of the protocol plan and an analysis of health and emergency response preparations. 
The General Coordinator summarised the main challenges and critical issues, stressing the importance of strong coordination and anticipating possible difficulties.
At its meeting on February 28th, 2024, the Council of Ministers decided to authorise the expenditure of up to US$12 million from the Contingency Fund for the Coordinating Committee to organise the activities in preparation for the visit. 
At this week's meeting, the Council of Ministers approved a draft Decree-Law to create a Special Procurement Regime for Pope Francis' visit to Timor-Leste. This Decree-Law aims to establish special procedures for public procurement of movable goods, services, and public works related to the papal visit's organisation and security. The initiative aims to make formalities and deadlines more flexible to guarantee efficiency and urgency in preparing for this historic event.
On February 12th, Monsignor Marco Sprizzi revealed that, although “it is not yet possible to confirm a date”, “the Timorese Government is making excellent preparations”. He thanked the Government “on behalf of the Holy See” “for the enormous, excellent, competent and efficient work being done to prepare for the Pope's possible visit to Timor-Leste”.
In addition to the General Coordinator, the meeting was also attended by the Minister of State Administration, Tomás do Rosário Cabral, High-Level Institutional Vice General Coordinator for the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis; the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Bendito dos Santos Freitas; the Minister of Health, Elia A. A. dos Reis Amaral; the Minister of Public Works, Samuel Marçal; the Minister of Transport and Communications, Miguel Marques Gonçalves Manetelu; the Minister of Defence, Donaciano do Rosário Gomes; the Minister of the Interior, Francisco da Costa Guterres; the Minister of Planning and Strategic Investment, Gastão Francisco de Sousa; the Secretary of State for Social Communication, Expedito Dias Ximenes; and the Secretary of State for Art and Culture, Jorge Soares Cristovão. Also present were the Executive Director of ADN, Rui Lourenço da Costa; the President of ANATL, Romualdo Soares da Silva; the Director General of SNAEM, Simplicio Amaral de Deus; the Vice Executive Director of ADN, Januario M. Guterres; the Director of the Ministry of Health, Madalena Hanjan Soares; the Secretary General of the MNEC, João Câmara; the Senior Advisor to the Office of the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Ika Moniz; a representative of the F-FDTL; and technicians from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of the Interior and the ADN.
