Tuesday 20 May 2008

World Youth day - A source of hope and joy for the Timorese after decades of turmoil and hardship
 
East Timor is one of the youngest nations on earth. It was only in 2002 that East Timor finally declared independence after 500 years of, at times bloody rule by foreign powers. Sadly one our newest nations in the world is also regarded as the poorest nation in Asia where half of its one million inhabitants have no clean drinking water and live on less than $0.50 a day.

East Timor also has the second highest proportion of Catholics in Asia (over 90%). There are over 900,000 Catholics in East Timor, a legacy of its status as a former Portuguese colony.

In material terms the Catholic Church in East Timor is every bit as poor as its people. There are just two dioceses in the country, Dili and Bacau, and both are dependent on outside help to fulfil their pastoral mission and to assist the general population with educational, health and other social services. Even then, their resources can only cover the basic essentials.

"Despite the interest in WYD and the large commitment of the East Timorese young people to the Church, we have no capacities to fund East Timorese young people to attend World Youth Day," laments Fr Dionisio da Silva Sarmento, the priest in charge of the Catholic Youth Department and Vocational Apostolate in Baucau. "The primary barrier to attending WYD is the cost of travel."

East Timor, Australia's closest neighbour in Oceania, has never been so tangibly near to WYD as it will be in July this year. For this reason the Church would love to send at least two young people from every parish, incorporating both town and rural regions, to WYD.

Should this initiative reach fruition, a delegation of 130 Timorese youth would fly from Dili to Darwin around the middle of July. From there they would travel to Brisbane, one of the Australian "host dioceses", to partake in a cultural orientation programme before going on to the actual World Youth Day in Sydney.

Fr Sarmento, who plans to accompany the group, is quite certain that: "WYD will allow the East Timorese to expand their understanding and vision so they can return to contribute to the life of the Church in their communities as well as to help re-build their country."

The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has promised to help fund the youth delegation from East Timor to WYD 2008 and plan to contribute over $40,000. To support this cause please send your donation to the Sydney office of Aid to the Church in Need at PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 or ring through your credit card donation to the office on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or Web:www.aidtochurch.org

Anyone helping the campaign will be sent a Prayer card and Papal rosary of Pope Benedict XVI to prayer for the success of World Youth Day.