Pope Francis visit keenly awaited in deeply Catholic East Timor

By Kate Lamb

(Reuters) - When Pope Francis touches down in the East Timorese capital of Dili this week he will be landing in a totally different nation to the one visited by his predecessor.

The last papal visit to Dili was in 1989, when Pope John Paul II arrived in territory then occupied by Indonesia, gifting East Timor's fledgling independence movement an historic boost and rare prominence on the global stage.

"It was an opportunity for us to express our right to fight for our liberation," recalled Father Francisco Barreto, who was among the crowd when protesters unfurled banners calling for independence in front of the world's TV cameras for the first time.

Now as one of the world's newest and predominantly Catholic nations prepares for a second papal visit, the 72-year-old priest said East Timor's struggle is about building the impoverished, half-island nation.

"This visit is grace from God," Barreto said by phone from Dili, where he works as a hospital and prison chaplain.

"It will bring new life, new energy, for our fight for the progress of this nation... politics and the economy are not healthy."

After a brutal, decades-long occupation by Indonesia, East Timor, or Timor Leste, gained independence in 2002 following a U.N.-supervised referendum.

But the nation of 1.3 million has struggled to diversify its oil and gas-dependent economy, foster political regeneration, and curb corruption.

Pope Francis's visit, part of a tour that includes stops in Jakarta and Singapore, is set to resonate in Dili, despite a string of abuse scandals that has plagued the church.

In 2022, the Vatican confirmed it had sanctioned Timorese Bishop and Nobel laureate Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo following allegations he sexually abused boys in Timor in the 1990s.

A year earlier, a defrocked American priest was sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually abusing girls under his care in Timor.

The events have triggered a fault line in views.

"There is a lot of resistance from some Timorese to thinking about those awful cases because of the historical importance of the church to the successful achievement of self-determination," said Michael Leach, from Australia's Swinburne University.

It is unclear whether Pope Francis will address the fractures, but thousands are expected to throng to the seaside capital regardless.

"The turnout will be astonishing," said Leach, "Catholicism is one of the things that unites Timorese."

'BACKBONE OF RESISTANCE'

So entwined is the Catholic church in East Timor's battle for freedom, that independence hero and incumbent Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao described it as the "backbone of the resistance".

Before Indonesia invaded in 1975, Timorese largely held animist beliefs and spoke local languages. Under Indonesian law they were forced to adopt one of the six official religions, and animism was not an option.

Converting to Catholicism became a way to reject integration with predominantly Muslim Indonesia, boosting those identifying as Catholic to more than 95% at independence compared with less than 30% before 1975.

"The nationalist thing to do was to convert to Catholicism. The whole idea of a Timorese nation really comes from that period," said Leach.

Even diplomats and journalists came to rely on trusted church figures, who were well informed, brave to speak about the realities on the ground, and could often confirm a counter-narrative to the one offered by officials in Jakarta, said Donald Greenlees, a senior adviser to Asialink, at the University of Melbourne.

"The church acted as a source of information, provided refuge, and I think critically, provided spiritual support and solace," said Greenlees, a former foreign correspondent who worked in Timor at the time.

"It also provided moral legitimacy for independence, helping to keep the issue on the boil as an international issue at the United Nations and elsewhere."

Bishop Belo, in particular, continued to lobby the Vatican, and the U.N.

East Timor's devout Catholics have not forgotten Pope John Paul II was the only world leader to visit during its decades-long occupation, nor his rousing homily condemning the bloodshed.

When he died in 2005, three days of national mourning were declared.

In Dili, intense preparations are again underway, with the government allocating $12 million for the pope's visit, part of a marathon four-country trip including Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Singapore.

"It's going to be a massive celebration, but there are concerns about the cost," said Jose Trindade, a former government official.

"We are looking at $4 million per day. That's a lot of money for a poor country like Timor Leste."

(Editing by Lincoln Feast.)