DILI, 13 november, 2020 (TATOLI) – The Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak, and the President of the Timorese Episcopal Conference (CET), Bishop Dom Norberto Amaral, an agreement that defines the attribution, by the Government, of a public subsidy corresponding to the total value of US five million dollars, for the 2020 financial year, to carry out activities in the educational, social and ecclesial government areas.
This agreement is concluded under the Concordat, signed in August 14th, 2015, between the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Holy See, which establish the legal framework of bilateral relations between the two states, and the Framework Agreement signed in June 16th, 2017, between the Government and CET.
Prime Minsiter, Taur Matan Ruak said that These agreements provide for an annual contribution, depending on the Government’s financial availability, for social, educational and ecclesial government activities of the Catholic Church. whose purpose is to conclude a series of activities by the end of the year.
“It is a great privilege for the Government to always be able to help the Episcopal Conference, granting it grants annually. The Government is therefore always available to assist the CET in the management of financial resources “, Taur Matan Ruak said, at the signing ceremony took place in the Auditorium of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, at the Government Palace, in Dili.
The agreement now signed provides that 50% of the grant amount will be used for educational purposes, 25% for social purposes, 15% for ecclesial government purposes and the remaining 10% for management of the grant awarded
Bishop Dom Norberto do Amaral declared that the agreement concluded in line with the needs of CET, thus he thanked the Timorese Government for the allocation of funds to face the current political situation as well as the health crisis caused by the covid -19.
“The Executive will allocate funds for the education and administration sectors. The agreement also defined the implementation rules and the report to be presented to the Government shortly”, he said.
Dom Norberto also recalled that the first agreement signed and completed by the seventh Government, was US $ 15 million which was made available and in a second phase, another US $ 10 million.
Bishop Norberto added that the Church has already handed over the report on the budget execution of US $ 10 million to Timorese Executive.
Participated in the ceremony the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Social Communication, Francisco Martins da Costa Pereira Jerónimo, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Adaljiza Albertina Xavier Reis Magno, the Archbishop Metropolitan of the Dili Ecclesiastical Province, Dom Virgílio do Carmo da Silva, the Bishop of the Diocese of Baucau, Dom Basílio do Nascimento and the Apostolic Nuncio to Timor-Leste, Joseph Salvador Marino
Journalist: Antonia Gusmao
Editor:Julia Chatarina
