The Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, accompanied by the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Agio Pereira, and the Secretary of State for Social Communication, Expedito Dias Ximenes, met this afternoon, after the departure of His Holiness Pope Francis, with the leaders of the Catholic Church in Timor-Leste: the President of the Timorese Episcopal Conference (CET), Dom Norberto do Amaral, Bishop of the Diocese of Maliana, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Dili, Cardinal Dom Virgílio do Carmo da Silva, the Bishop of Baucau, Dom Leandro Maria Alves, and the Representative of the Holy See in Timor-Leste, Monsignor Marco Sprizzi. 

 At the press conference held after the meeting, the Head of Government explained that, during the meeting, the success of the joint work between the Government and the Church was recognized, which resulted in the success of the visit by His Holiness Pope Francis. The Prime Minister also highlighted the massive participation of the population and, in particular, praised the young people for their exemplary behavior, stressing that the Timorese “continue to demonstrate the ability to create harmony, non-violence and love, thus promoting human fraternity in the country”. 

 Cardinal Dom Virgílio do Carmo da Silva expressed his deep satisfaction and gratitude for the “joint effort” of everyone involved, which culminated in the success of the papal visit. He also praised “the maturity of the people and the young people”, congratulating them and the government, “all the faithful and the entire population” for their contribution to this historic moment.

His Holiness Pope Francis today concluded a three-day apostolic visit to East Timor, during which he was received with great enthusiasm by the population, with thousands of people following Pope Francis through the streets of the city of Dili. The  peak of the visit was the celebration of Mass in Tasi Tolu, which was attended by around 600,000 people.