DILI (UCAN): The Holy See honoured Timorese Father Francisco dos Santos Fatima Barreto and Father Francisco Tavares, Italian Father Eligio Locatelli, Portuguese Jesuit Father Jose Alves Martins and Canossian Sister Maria Chioda with the Decoration of Honour for their distinguished service to the Catholic Church in Timor-Leste.
 
The recognition is given by the pope to laypeople and clergy for outstanding contributions to the Church.  
 

DILI (UCAN): Bishop Virgilio do Carmo da Silva of Dili, reminded young people of their special role in maintaining peace in Timor-Leste, particularly as the country prepares for polls in May.
 
During a special Passion Sunday Mass to mark the annual passing round of the so-called university cross Bishop Da Silva said young people should look up to Jesus’ cross as a source of inspiration in daily life.
 

DILI (UCAN): Timor-Leste lurched into a constitutional crisis after the minority government of prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, failed to pass key legislation, including a fresh budget, in the week before Christmas.
 
Asia’s most Catholic nation and youngest democracy now faces the prospect of a new government, or a second election inside nine months, as the country’s parliament has been in gridlock since the 22 July 2017 election failed to deliver a workable majority (Sunday Examiner, 24 September 2017).
 

DILI (SE): Lucille Abeykoon, a social worker from the Human Rights Office Kandy in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is wondering why one of the youngest countries in the world, Timor-Leste, has made so much progress in the protection of human rights, accountability and the rule of law, while her own land, which has been independent from its colonial power for 69 years, has made so little.
 

Dili (UCAN): Father Adrian Ola Duli, director of Caritas Dili, said Timor-Leste’s current wage of about US$3.75 (29) was not enough for a worker to afford three meals a day, let alone provide for his family, adding that the monthly wage of US$115 (892) needs to be raised to more than US$200 ($1,550).

DILI (UCAN): About 3,000 people marched from the Australian-owned Tiger refuelling station to the Australian embassy in the Timor-Leste capital of Dili on February 23, demanding that the Australian government stop exploiting oil and gas reserves in the Timor Gap—the maritime boundary separating the two countries—and using a treaty it signed with Indonesia in 1972 to justify it.