Pope Francis on Wednesday cre-
ated the new ecclesiastical prov-
ince of Dili in East Timor, ele-
vating the Diocese of Dili to the
rank of a metropolitan archdiocese.
The new ecclesiastical province of Dili
will have the dioceses of Baucau and Ma-
liana as its suffragans. At the same time,
the Pope raised Salesian Bishop Virgílio
do Carmo da Silva of Dili to the rank of
an archbishop.
The Diocese of Díli has an area of 4,775
sq km, covering 5 districts in the cen-
tral part of East Timor. Out of a total of
population of over 667,000, Catholics
number more than 630,000 (94.4%), who
are spread across 30 parishes. They are
served by 149 priests, 132 men religious
and 432 nuns. 98 major seminarians are
studying for priesthood. The diocese de-
pends a lot on the service of catechists.
