Dili - Timor Leste, 4 September 2021 -- Bishop Carlos Ximenes Filipe Belo (Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Dili) has written a book to be launched on 22 September in Portugal. This book is written to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the second expedition of Salesian missionaries to Timor-Leste.
It was in 1946 that the second Salesian missionary expedition landed in Timor. In those times life was undeniably tough, marked by difficulties and toil but with God’s Grace and tremendous effort of the Salesian with the collaboration of the native people, the Salesians did great things in this crocodile island* in different aspects in contributing to the civilization of the people. In fact, a certain serenity and capacity to confront difficulties positively, with a fighting spirit but also joyfully dominate the situation.
Evangelization and Education are two sides of the the same coin which the Salesians are using in spreading God’s Kingdom in this tiny island. We are excited to have this book authored by this prolific writer and bishop, a Nobel peace laureate, a spiritual leader, a father, a shepherd, the list could continue in describing Bishop Belo - as people named him, “the voice of the voiceless.”
As the book briefly summarizes:
The Salesians have been present in Timor-Leste continuously since 1946. Over these 75 years a lot of things has changed. political regimes have changed, the ecclesial fabric has changed, society has changed. But the Salesians of Don Bosco have remained constant in their commitment to evangelize and educate this island and its people.
In this book, Don Carlos traces the history of the Salesian presence in Timor-Leste using abundant original sources.
"75 years of serving God and the young" is a beautiful summary of this story of education, theater and music, human promotion, crocodile hunting to feed the students, sometimes friendly, sometimes tense with the political authorities, of evangelization carried out in the most different contexts.”
This book is a helping tool to understand the historical, social-political, and the religious context at the time.
Thank you so much Don Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, for this amazing book to bring us back and learn from the history in order to build a brighter future. It is surely your gift for the Timorese in order to learn from the past for a better future.
As Latin expression would say: “HISTORIA MAGISTRA EST VITAE”
Boa leitura!
* The people of Timor-Leste have traditional beliefs that revere the crocodile. In pre-Christian times they believed the island was made from a crocodile.
