Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
by Paolo Affatato
Dili (Agenzia Fides) - This is the strip of land "where it all began", explains to Fides Father Josè Tacain SVD, a Timorese missionary born in Oekussi, quoting the expression that the Timorese like to use. Oekussi-Ambeno is the place on the island of Timor where the Portuguese landed for the first time in the 16th century and where the first Dominican missionaries landed with them. It is therefore considered the "cradle of East Timor". But Oekussi - and this is its particularity - is today an enclave of East Timor located in the western part of the island, therefore in the heart of Indonesian territory. On an area of 814 km² lives a population of about 70,000 inhabitants, who have always remained, over the centuries, culturally and spiritually linked to East Timor, regardless of the regime of West Timor. Oekussi is proud of its past, its culture and its faith. In Oekussi, the area called Lifau is the exact place where the first Portuguese landed in 1515, and it is from there that the Dominican friar Antonio Taveira, known by the locals as the "Saint Anthony of East Timor", began his missionary work on the island, as a monument and a series of plaques celebrating the arrival of the Gospel remind us. In 1556, a group of Dominican friars established the first permanent settlement on Timorese territory and Lifau later became the capital of the Portuguese colony at the time. This status was lost in 1767, when, due to frequent Dutch raids, the Portuguese decided to move the capital to Dili, the current capital of East Timor.
In 1859, with the Treaty of Lisbon, Portugal and the Netherlands divided possession of the island of Timor, but confirmed that the territory of Oekussi remained under Portuguese rule. And even in 1975, when Indonesia invaded East Timor, the territory continued to be administered as part of occupied East Timor. Finally, after the recognition of East Timor's independence in 2002, Oekussi-Ambeno became part of the young republic again. Today, Father Tacain notes, at the political level, Oekussi has become a "special economic zone" because it faces the daily challenge of being geographically separated from the rest of the country (the only link with East Timor is a coastal road) and needs development projects, especially in the tourism sector. "Oekussi, he continues, is also a district of the Archdiocese of Dili where the faith has never died out in 500 years. There are five parishes and historical traces of the presence of Portuguese missionaries, such as the Church of St. Mary of the Rosary. I would like to mention that there was a Catholic seminary as early as 1700. Many priests of the Church of Dili or consecrated members of religious orders were born there. The religious festivals are deeply felt and celebrated with great devotion. All this is a sign of the vitality of the faith." East Timorese faithful often make pilgrimages to the monument that commemorates the time and place where, on August 18, 1515, the Portuguese landed “and where our story of faith and salvation began,” notes Verbite priest. “The history of the nation and the history of the Catholic Church are linked. We recognize the Portuguese colonizers brought the gift of the Gospel,” he observes.
In Oekussi, squeezed into Indonesian territory, one does not feel besieged: “We are living a reconciled history with Indonesia. I remember that in my childhood, the Indonesian administration was an occupying power, but our Timorese identity has never been weakened. At the time, the Suharto regime had imperialist aims that have disappeared and today we maintain good neighborly relations. We have always been part of East Timor and the Lord has always accompanied our journey.” (Agenzia Fides, 10/9/2024)
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