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By Catholic Information Company
The most recent — and first — cardinal-elect of East Timor says he was utterly shocked by his appointment by Pope Francis final weekend.
“After I heard this information, I used to be so shocked I nearly fainted,” Archbishop Dom Virgilio do Carmo da Silva instructed reporters. “I by no means dreamed of this, and I by no means seemed for it.”
Pope Francis on Sunday introduced the names of 21 males who might be created cardinals at a consistory in August. At age 54, soon-to-be Cardinal da Silva may very well be eligible to vote in conclaves for 26 years.
President Jose Ramos-Horta of East Timor paid a courtesy name to congratulate Cardinal-elect da Silva, who leads the Archdiocese of Dili.
East Timor, or Timor-Leste, occupies the jap half of the island of Timor, which it shares with Indonesia.
The inhabitants of the nation, that was colonised by Portugal, is sort of 98 per cent Catholic and really youthful — roughly 40 per cent of the inhabitants is beneath the age of 15. The nation’s median age is 20.
Cardinal-elect da Silva, a priest of the Salesians of St. John Bosco, has led the native Church of Dili since 2016 as a bishop; he grew to become an archbishop when the see was raised to an archdiocese in 2019. He serves as vice chairman of the nationwide bishops’ convention.
He made perpetual vows in 1997 and was ordained a priest the next 12 months.
He stated he views his elevation as a blessing for the closely Catholic nation, which not too long ago celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the restoration of its independence.
Pope Francis has expressed curiosity in visiting the area in particular person.
In an interview final October, the Pope stated that in 2022 he want to make journeys to Papua New Guinea and East Timor, which had been deliberate for late 2020 earlier than they had been cancelled due to the pandemic.
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