DILI – The archbishop of Dili hopes that East Timor’s first Catholic university will open this year after he met with Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak in Dili last week.
Salesian Archbishop Dom Virgílio do Carmo da Silva met Ruak last Friday, a month after the archdiocese formally applied for permission to open the Catholic University of Timor in the Catholic-majority country.
Dili archdiocese, based in the half-island nation’s capital, is the only of its kind in the country of 1.2 million inhabitants. Catholics number some 1 million in the former Portuguese colony. Timor-Leste is the country’s official Portuguese name.
The archdiocese submitted an application on July 16 to start the university. The application is still being reviewed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Culture.
Archbishop Carmo da Silva said he and his team from the archdiocese were told during the meeting about the governmental process that has been completed and the steps that are pending.
He expressed hope that “the university could start operating this year.”
The university will start with faculties teaching social sciences, education, and humanities. Next year it plans to set up two more faculties covering health and agriculture.
Some 50 educators, all armed with master’s and doctoral degrees, have signed up to join the new institution.
Initially, the university will function in the building of a high school on the outskirts of Dili, officials said.
Macau’s Catholic university – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ Macau) – is co-owned by the local diocese and the Catholic University in Lisbon. It was launched in 1996, initially known as the Macau Inter-University Institute.
– Courtesy of UCA News
* Minor edits by The Macau Post Daily
Dili’s Salesian Archbishop Dom Virgílio do Carmo da Silva (left) meets with East Timor’s Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak last Friday at the latter’s office in the half-island nation’s capital to discuss the progress of an application to start the first Catholic university in the country a month ago. – Photo courtesy of Timor-Leste Prime Minister’s Office
