Roman Catholic Diocese of Díli

Updated on Jan 30, 2024

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Rite Latin Rite Pope Francis Country Timor-Leste		Established 4 September 1940 Area 4,755 km² Emeritus bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva

Metropolitan Immediately Subject to the Holy See Population - Total - Catholics (as of 2013) 591,425 561,135 (94.9%) Emeritus Bishops Alberto Ricardo da Silva (2004-2015) Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo Apostolic Administrator Emeritus (1988-2002) Cathedral Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Dili Bishop Virgílio do Carmo da Silva

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Díli (Latin: Diliensis) is a diocese located in the city of Díli in Timor-Leste.

The country’s only Major Seminary, the Seminary of SS Peter and Paul is located within the Diocese.

In 1983 Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo S.D.B. took over the administration of Dili Diocese. Then the only diocese in the territory, the 700,000 Catholics were divided into 30 parishes administered by 71 priests. The Diocese of Dili serves as the temporary see of the primate of Timor Leste because, an archdiocese is not yet established in the country. And, in fact, Diocese of Dili, is the first diocese in the country, if the other two dioceses will be elevated first to archdiocesan level, then, it will be the see of the primate or archbishop of East Timor

History

4 September 1940: Established as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Díli from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau.

On 4 September 1990 the diocese celebrated its 50th anniversary.

In 2009 the government gave US$1.5 million to two dioceses in East Timor — Dili and Baucau, which they are to receive annually “to run social programs for people”. Poverty remains a massive problem since independence in 2002, with about half of the 1 million population unemployed and 45 per cent living on less than US$1 a day.

1 February 2010: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dili loses territory to form the newly erected Roman Catholic Diocese of Maliana, the third Roman Catholic diocese in East Timor

Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass with crowds of young people of East Timor on 12 October 1989. In 2008 a chapel and statue were built and dedicated in his honour in the suburb of Tasi-Tolu, in the Diocese. These were blessed by the Apostolic Nuncio of East Timor, Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli.