East Timor

| VATICAN

The Holy See has officially announced the long journey to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore. Card Goh of Singapore hopes the pope will bring to his predominantly Chinese city, “renewed fervour to all Catholics [. . .], especially in these most challenging of times”. It will also be the first time a pontiff visits Dili since independence. For Card Carmo da Silva, the Holy Father comes to “strengthen Timor-Leste’s Church in the faith and love of Christ.”


Today's headlines:  Two weeks of strikes in South Korea; Chinese director-general Qu Dongyu re-elected at FAO; In Myanmar the number of displaced people rises to 1.8 million; In East Timor, independence hero Xanana Gusmao confirmed as new head of state; Heavy rains hit Japan; Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov attacks Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

| 03/07/2023
| ASIA TODAY

The party led by Xanana Gusmão won over 40% of the vote and needs only one more seat to form a government. Observers hope that this victory will put the former Portuguese colony on the road to development. The first task of the new executive will be to work on economic diversification.

| 23/05/2023
| EAST TIMOR
by Mathias Hariyadi

The meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations opens today until Thursday. Indonesian President Jokowi proposes a " forum for dialogue " to end violence in Myanmar (ex-Burma), which "harms innocent people". Indonesian and Singaporean diplomats fired upon in Shan State are unharmed.

| 09/05/2023
| INDONESIA

In a report by a Dutch weekly, two men accuse the prelate of sexual abuse in the 1990s when they were underage. In November 2002 Bishop Ximenes Belo, then 54, suddenly resigned for health reasons and left the country. The paper’s investigation was brought to the attention of the competent dicasteries in the Vatican, this according to the nunciature in Timor-Leste.

| 29/09/2022
| TIMOR-LESTE – NETHERLANDS

During the ceremony, the Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State met with President Ramos-Horta. In his address, he praised parliament for adding the Declaration on Human Fraternity signed by Pope Francis and Grand Imam al Tayeb to the school curriculum.

| 22/09/2022
| TIMOR-LESTE – VATICAN
by Steve Suwannarat

Timor Leste has had observer status for years. Yesterday's visit by President José Ramos-Horta to Indonesia could see the small nation join the Association next year. Significantly, the meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo was held in the Indonesian capital.

| 20/07/2022
| TIMOR LESTE
Editor's choices
 
Not only Gaza and the war in Ukraine: the global arms race is also driven by Chinese pressure on Taiwan.. The 6.8% growth represents "the highest year-on-year growth since 2009". China, Russia, India and Saudi Arabia among the world's top five with ...
| 22/04/2024
| ASIA - MIDDLE EAST
 
by Dario Salvi
Layan Nasir, a 23-year-old native of Birzeit, is the only Christian woman under "administrative detention". She was taken, blindfolded and handcuffed, overnight by a military patrol without an arrest warrant or charges against her. The Bethlehem ...
| 19/04/2024
| ISRAEL – PALESTINE
 
Chinese Human Rights Defenders released a report detailing the stories of children and young people victims of human rights violations, like He Fengmei's daughter, who was separated from her mother a month after her birth and kept in a psychiatric ...
| 16/04/2024
| CHINA
 
Currently in intensive care, the seven-year-old is the only person to be seriously wounded by Iran’s attack against Israel because her house and village were not covered by Israel’s Iron Dome defence system. Nothing is known of the fate of ...
| 15/04/2024
| ISRAEL – GAZA - IRAN
 
by Daniele Frison
The auxiliary bishop of Jerusalem and patriarchal vicar for Palestine looks at the protests in Amman. Diplomatic relations with Israel allow aid to be sent to Gaza. Some students from Gaza’s Holy Family Parish arrived in Amman thanks to the Patriarchate’s ...
| 12/04/2024
| JORDAN
 
The Holy See has officially announced the long journey to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore. Card Goh of Singapore hopes the pope will bring to his predominantly Chinese city, “renewed fervour to all Catholics [. . .], especially ...
| 12/04/2024
| VATICAN
 
by card. Anthony Poola *
The Archbishop of Hyderabad looks at the media reaction to the declaration released by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on human dignity. The media are “focused on gender theory, sex change, surrogacy etc., but” people who “struggle ...
| 11/04/2024
| INDIA
 
The Vatican Secretary for Relations with States presides over Mass in the cathedral, the focal point of this historic trip for the local Church since the breaking of diplomatic relations between Hanoi and the Vatican in 1975. In the meeting with ...
| 11/04/2024
| VIETNAM
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”