(Reflections from Fr. Joaquim Sarmento, SJ as a Personal Assistant during Pope Francis visits in Timor-Leste)

The ‘shock’ is over. Only at this point, I start to gain full consciousness on how great was the privilege and honor the Bishops entrusted to me to assist the Holy Father Pope Francis in his recent visit to TL. I now look at these privilege and honor as immense blessings and I praise the Lord for that and thank the Bishops and the Apostolic Nunciature. The ‘shock’ is over, and now as I am reflecting over the experience of the recent days, my eyes are open to appreciate its real value. It’s true that many Timorese were able to meet the Pope in person, exchange few words with him, get so close to him, but I was alone, the only Timorese, who shared meals on the same table sitting right on his left, traveled in the same vehicle, witnessed his conversations with the president of the Republic of TL in his three private meetings at the airport and at the presidential palace and, I was his translator. I had met the Holy Father during the General Congregation 36 and during my formation in Rome as new ETR major superior. But this experience I recently had with him in Timor was like a dream. Though there were some alterations from the planned agenda and protocol, still the feeling is that it was a great honor for me.

As I look back, especially watching the video I made from inside the vehicle when we were traveling, I see all the people with an enthusiasm of no comparison, and that surprised even me. They all did the possible and the impossible pushing each other to simply see the Holy Father, be close to him, touch him. If they were ‘lucky’ they were personally blessed, gifted with a rosary, or even had a selfie shot with him.… Many almost got hit by the car, some with babies in their arms crazily stopped the vehicle … and many other forms and ways. And there I was, with all my privileges. My whole self was filled with a mix of feelings, starting from that odd feeling of unworthiness, moved with tears, a weird excitement, or just glimpses of the face of Bruno and Jose Maria, my old man and brother. It was another world, another face of Timor. With all these mixed feelings, excited mostly, I just sat quietly at the back. I knew I was a discreet servant at the side, ready and available whenever called to duty …. Otherwise, I just stayed at the periphery. 

GMN (a local TV station) asked me about how I was elected to this job of translator to the Holy Father. I told them that it was a question better directed to the Bishops and Nunciature. In 2019, when a possible visit of Pope Francis was on air (then canceled due to Covid pandemic) the Bishops had already communicated to me this task. Speaking of language proficiency, I think there were many better ones around, but the Nunciature spoke about ‘profile’. I didn’t bother much about the why anymore. It was an honor and a trust which I accepted. I did my best to prepare (read the Pope’s biography and listened to his many interviews in Spanish on internet, silently translated in many events, two days visit to   and conversations with my Argentinian friend, Sr. Cecilia ACI just to refresh my Spanish, etc.)

I knew that working with Tetum, (considering its simple structure and limited vocabulary) most probably the work would consist more in interpreting than translating. Actually there was not much to do during the two days of visit as I mostly worked with the official texts beforehand. In the vehicle, the Holy Father was busy greeting and blessing the enthusiastic faithful (distributing rosaries, even candies to children).  At the dining table all spoke Italian, and in meeting people sometimes the Cardinal assisted the Pope …

It’s not a criteria for sure, but the fact that I am a Jesuit myself who can connect easier, this could have been part of the consideration. I am so grateful for the experiences I had in this kind of task that is to be translator cum interpreter in several occasions in the past. In the modern monastery of Taize in France, I did this one whole month for a mixed group of Spanish and Italians, in Lourdes for two weeks assisted delegations from different countries on their way to WYD Paris and, during my tertianship in Salamanca in a conference of Jesuits and collaborators. Here in Timor I did this same service to the visiting Cardinals from Rome, Cardinal João Braz d’Avis and later to Cardinal Pietro Parolin on the occasion of the 500 years of the presence of the Catholic faith in Timor. Equipped with these previous experiences I felt a bit more self-confident. I thank my natural family and my spiritual family of the Society of Jesus for the so many opportunities provided for me. I thank the Bishops and the Nunciature for the trust. Praise and gratitude should go to God and to them, not to me.

I’m grateful that in general things went well from my side. Only sometimes the sound-system didn’t work properly especially from the point where I was standing. Minor difficulty arose as no ‘head-set’ was provided to me (so I will only have access to the voice of the speaker instead of getting all kinds of noise from the enthusiastic crowd). Last week I blessed a small conference room at Joao Saldanha University, and head-set was available for the translator. The Vatican protocol directed me to stand at the pulpit, though I argued that I needed to be close to the Holy Father to be able to read his lips (being Argentinian and advanced in age, the Pope was not able to pronounce some words clearly when he spoke in his mother tongue). In this kind of situation, in the case of doubt, I chose not to translate, and just follow the written text, in order not to misinterpret his teachings. As I said, mostly things went just fine, the most important thing was that the message or the teaching of the Holy Father reached everybody and was well understood by all.

During the days we stayed together at the Nunciature, I was able to observe closely the Holy Father’s passion for Christ, for the Church and for human beings. The details of his life and his engagement in conversations continuously reflected his teachings during his papacy so far. He is very human, simple and joyful, very emphatic. Even in simple conversations with ordinary people he gave his whole self with no distractions. At the same time, he is profoundly spiritual, profoundly sincere.

On his flight from Singapore back to Rome, the Holy Father said: “I fall in love with Timor-Leste”. And later in Rome, during the general audience, he used a lot of meaningful words of appreciation to synthetize his visit to Timor. It was not a politically correct statement of a guest after the visit.  During the two days he was here, whether at the dining table or in the vehicle and in his public appearances, he continued to admire the enthusiasm of Timor, its joy and youthfulness, its faith. This confirms his statements in public speeches, describing Timor people as: simple, joyful and smiling, young full of hope for the future, ‘wise through suffering’, ‘a peripheral world that becomes center’, a people rooted in faith, the perfume of the Christ, and many more. Above all, he praised most the enthusiasm of the people of Timor in receiving him – whenever and wherever, roads were filled with excited crowd to greet the Vicar of Christ. He repeated several times to the President of the Republic and to us in the Nunciature his admiration for this atmosphere. At the private meeting of the two heads of state at the airport before leaving for Singapore (it was the third private meeting of both that I had the honor to witness), I heard the President said “this enthusiasm indicates the hunger and thirst of the people for a leadership that is just, ethic, compassionate … that kind of leadership that Your Holiness represents”. I couldn’t agree less.  

The Holy Father, as the image of the Good Shepherd who “knows His sheep”, left the people and the Church of Timor-Leste messages that were “very on target”. They were Golden words that I hope will turn into a life program for the people and the Church in Timor. Probably the most important message that the Pope repeatedly said almost in all his public appearances, including the private meeting with his brother Jesuits, was the binominal: ‘the Gospel needs to be enculturated, and the culture needs to be evangelized’.

To the authorities at the Palace, the Holy Father praised Timor who is able to raise from years of suffering, praised Timor regarding the agreement on Human Fraternity, called for complete reconciliation with our brothers in Indonesia and, called to take seriously the unsolved problems that lie behind the phenomenon of immigration and poverty. He also urged the country to form good leaders which may receive contribution from the Social Teachings of the Church, reminded us on the danger of what he called “social scourges” such as excessive use of alcohol and martial arts, called to take care of our youth while learning from the wisdom of the elderly; called to trust in wisdom of the people, that kind of wisdom acquired through suffering, while imploring the protection of Our Lady of Aitara.

At the community of ALMA Sisters, in his words in Spanish that I translated into Bahasa Indonesia, the Holy Father called us to care for the disabled, poor and marginalized (what he calls ‘the Sacrament of the Poor) and, at the same time learn from them to let ourselves be cared for by God. He reminded all present that without love, all these works make no sense. With the youth, he reflected on these three main thoughts: true freedom, commitment in our time, and fraternity (differences are not reasons for living together as enemies). Young people need to ‘live’, need to dream, be joyful and smile always. He also called on to the youth to care for the elderly. In his speech to the Church in Timor, he gave the Church in Timor a new title: “You are the fragrance of Christ”, which brings along two main tasks (to preserve and to spread the perfume of the Gospel). That is to always go back to the source of faith and live with a renewed impetus toward evangelization.  More than a title, it’s a mission. In his homily in Tacitolu, the Holy Father meditated on the virtue of ‘A Child born for us’ and called us ‘not to be afraid to be small before God and before the others’. True kingship lies in one who is capable of self-giving because of love, in charity and mercy, symbolized by Belak and Kaibauk (father and mother, strength and tenderness).

The two days of Holy Fathers’ visit were among the biggest celebration in Timor. The festivities are over, now it’s time to give life to his messages, to become a program for the State and for the Church, for communities and individuals. Let not his words fall in vain. May these messages find an ‘echo’, and a positive reaction in the whole Timor, making it a good soil for the seed he planted. We need to make efforts so that his visit marks a ‘before’ and an ‘after’ in our history. The extraordinary enthusiasm that we showed will be complete and will gain its true value when we hold high the words of the Holy Father and together take concrete actions. It true that this moment of grace brought along a moral strength, but the visit of the Holy Father was not a magic thing that will turn us saints in no time. The state has its strategic plan, the Church has it pastoral plan. We might need to revise them and renew our direction.

This crowd and this level of enthusiasm has never been seen in this country, with joy and celebration and, no major incidents. I lost the atmosphere of these festivities, wasn’t able to experience closely the life in the joyful crowd, with traditional vestments, songs and dances, witnessing so many people who were joyfully tired. At 5am, I was doing exercise, walking bare foot from the Nunciature where I stayed to the presidential palace, and I witnessed a river of people going to Tacitolu for the 4pm mass! They walked and sang ‘Hamlaha hamrook ami liman ain kole atu ba hasoru itabot” (hungry and thirsty walking to your encounter). I couldn’t hold back my tears of commotion. Brothers and sisters, the celebration is over, now let us all go back to work. Despite certain debate on this enthusiasm Timor has shown (thirst for a good leader or a father figure, our catholic faith really characterizes the identity on Timor, the culture of appearance, and other mainstream culture), we hold on tight to the fact that the Vicar of Christ came to convene us; he visited to encourage us and give direction to us as a people and as a Church. Our faith puts us together. Now, this faith needs to turn into a culture that is to be principles that direct our concrete choices in our individual and community life (as what the Holy Father mentioned at the Palace), not continue to live our ‘old men’s life. Brothers and sisters, praise and glory be to God. Gratitude to Holy Father Pope Francis. The festivities are over, let’s now work to put it into practice.