Pope Francis East Timor DOOM! One Year After Meeting With East Timor's Catholic Prime Minister Another MUSLIM Prime Minister Is Elected!

Over one year ago Pope Francis meets with East Timor's Catholic Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo:

MARCH 2016

The Prime Minister of East Timor meets with Pope Francis

Pope Francis met with the Prime Minister of East Timor in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, just after 9:30 am. Rui Maria de Araujo was punctual at the meeting. with the Pope. The meeting lasted about 15 minutes. The Prime Minister explained to the Pope that since the country's independence with Australia, both are in disputes about establishing maritime borders. During the gift-giving, the Pope made reference to that dispute by showing him the peace medallion, a symbol of overcoming differences. "I think about what you say of maritime borders.� The Prime Minister handed him some handcrafted ornaments made from his country. East Timor along with the Philippines, is one of the countries with the largest Catholic population in Southeast Asia. More than 95 percent of its inhabitants are Catholic. The Prime Minister visited the Vatican to ratify the agreement the two states signed in 2015, which recognizes the juridical personality of the Church and its institutions in their territory. Source

A new MUSLIM Prime Minister is elected.....

DECEMBER 2017

ASIA/EAST TIMOR - A Muslim Prime Minister in a nation with a Catholic majority 

Dili (Agenzia Fides) - Although it is going through a turbulent political phase and its newborn government is in difficulty, Mari Bin Amudi Alkatiri is a Muslim Prime Minister who leads a country with a large Catholic majority. In office since September 2017, the difficulties encountered today are political and economic (the budget law, the employment of young people, the negotiations with Australia for the exploitation of oil) have nothing to do with religion. Good sign of pluralism and maturity in a young nation (independent since 2002) and 60% of the population is under 25 years of age. Source

This is the second MUSLIM prime Minister since September 2017

East Timor is 97% Roman Catholic

JPII East Timor

2015

Agreement Signed Between the Holy See and East Timor

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin was given a joyful welcome upon his arrival to East Timor. The Italian prelate’s visit coincides with the 500th anniversary of the evangelization of East Timor.

The highlight of his visit was the signing of an agreement between the Holy See and East Timor. According to Fides, the signing took place in Taci Tolo, an area visited by St. John Paul II in 1989.

A statement released today by the Holy See Press Office reports the agreement was signed by Cardinal Parolin and Rui Maria de Araújo, Prime Minister of East Timor.

“The agreement, noting the good relations that have developed between the Holy See and the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, and considering the historical and current role played by the Catholic Church in the life of the nation for the development of the human person, defines and guarantees the legal status of the Catholic Church and regulates various areas, including canonical marriage, places of worship, Catholic institutions of education and education, the teaching of religion in schools, the Church’s charitable activities, pastoral care in the armed forces and in penal institutions and hospitals, and the patrimonial & fiscal system,” the statement read.

In a message sent to Cardinal Parolin last week, Pope Francis noted the importance of the 5th centenary celebrations of the country’s evangelization.

“The Catholic Church for 500 years has provided great spiritual, human and material support for the people of Timor, making a decisive contribution towards Timor-Leste’s process of liberation,” he wrote. Source

1989 

RIOT DURING JPII OUTDOOR MASS EAST TIMOR:

DILI, Indonesia, Oct. 12— Praying on a barren plain said to have been a killing field for Government troops, Pope John Paul II admonished Indonesia today to respect human rights in the disputed province of East Timor, where he said ''many innocent people have died.''

The Pope became the first world leader to visit East Timor, which is largely Roman Catholic, since Indonesia invaded the territory and annexed it in 1976, and he used the occasion to recall past bloodshed and to appeal for reconciliation between Timorese and the Indonesian authorities.

But as he finished celebrating an outdoor Mass, the passions that still smolder here burst into a chair-throwing melee directly in front of the altar between anti-Government demonstrators and police officers.

The trouble began when about 20 youths emerged from the crowd of 100,000 worshipers and tried to force their way to the altar past security guards. As they unfurled a banner and shouted slogans calling for East Timor's independence, they were set upon by plainclothes policemen, who hit them with riot sticks and pushed them back. #4 Women Reported Trampled Witnesses who stayed behind after the press corps traveling with the Pope had been taken to the Dili airport said that dozens of other youths joined the brawl, throwing chairs at the police until calm was restored 15 minutes later. Four women were said to have been trampled and taken to a hospital. No arrests were reported. One witness said the incident occurred as the Pope was walking to his car for a short ride to the airport. He paused to look at the disruption and then left. At no point was he in jeopardy, and the fact that the protesters also chanted ''Viva Il Papa!'' made it clear that he was not their target. Nevertheless, the episode underscored the ''hatred and struggle'' that John Paul had discussed minutes before.

Indonesia, which is overwhelmingly Muslim, forcibly annexed East Timor in the confusion that followed the withdrawal of Portugal in 1974 as it was rapidly dissolving its colonial empire.

Delivered in English and translated for the crowd into the local Tetum language, the Pope's homily was an unequivocal call for human-rights safeguards. ''Respect for the rights which render life more human must be firmly insured,'' he said. Abuses Still Reported

International rights groups say that perhaps as many as 200,000 East Timorese, out of a total population of 650,000, were killed by Indonesian troops. Carlos Filipe Belo, the Catholic Bishop of the province, said killings occurred on the very spot where the Pope prayed -a spit of land bordered by craggy hills and the Timor Sea and once used by soldiers as a place to interrogate prisoners.

''For many years now, you have experienced destruction and death as a result of conflict,'' John Paul told his listeners. ''You have known what it means to be victims of hatred and struggle. Many innocent people have died while others have been prey to retaliation and revenge.''

Western diplomats say that wholesale killings have long stopped here, but they and other international monitors report continued abuses.

The Pope said before coming that his visit was pastoral and had no political significance. He is, however, a master of multilayered symbolism. He did not kiss the ground on landing at the airport, thereby avoiding a gesture that he reserves for countries being visited for the first time. John Paul has been in Indonesia since Monday.

But as the Mass began, he knelt and kissed a crucifix that had been placed on a cushion laid upon the ground. It was, a Vatican spokesman insisted, a normal custom that emphasized ''the purely pastoral nature'' of the visit.

Still, from where the worshipers and their Bishop stood, another signal was being sent. They saw a Pope who seemed very much to be kissing the ground, and when he got back on his feet, the crowd cheered.

Photo of Anti-Government demonstrators being clubbed by Indonesian police officers during a melee that broke out yesterday in front of an altar in East Timor as Pope John Paul II finished celebrating an outdoor Mass. Source