Basílio do Nascimento

The Most Reverend

Basílio do Nascimento
The Most Reverend; Basílio do Nascimento
Bishop of Baucau
	Nascimento (left) in 2015
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Province	Díli; (from 11 September 2019);
Diocese	Baucau
Appointed	6 March 2004
Term ended	30 October 2021
Predecessor	Office established
Successor	Leandro Maria Alves
Other post(s)	President, Episcopal Conference of Timor-Leste [de]; (2012–2019);
Orders
Ordination	25 June 1977; by David de Sousa
Consecration	6 January 1997; by Pope John Paul II
Personal details
Born	Basílio do Nascimento; 14 June 1950; Suai, Portuguese Timor; (now East Timor);
Died	30 October 2021 (aged 71); Dili, East Timor
Nationality	East Timorese
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Previous post(s)	Titular Bishop of Septimunicia; (1996–2004); Apostolic Administrator of Baucau; (1996–2004); Apostolic Administrator of Dili; (2002–04; 2015–16);
Alma mater	Institut Catholique de Paris
Motto	Et vocem Spiritu Sancto; ("The voice of the Holy Spirit");

Basílio do Nascimento Martins (14 June 1950 – 30 October 2021) was the East Timorese Roman Catholic Bishop of Baucau.^[1]

He was born in Suai, then Portuguese Timor. He later moved to Portugal, where he was ordained as a priest in Évora, in 1977. He worked for 20 years in Portugal and France before returning home in 1994, which was at the time under Indonesian occupation.^[2]

He became apostolic administrator of the new Diocese of Baucau on 30 November 1996 and titular bishop on 6 January 1997. When Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo retired, Nascimento became apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Dili, until the new Bishop of Dili, Alberto Ricardo da Silva, was installed on 6 March 2004. Nascimento then became the Bishop of Baucau.

In October 1999, the President of the National Council of Timorese Resistance Xanana Gusmão thanked Bishop Nascimento for the support of the Church in the struggle for independence.^[3]

Concerned that the names of the thousands of lives lost during Indonesia's occupation of the country will be forgotten in the name of reconciliation with Indonesia, on 21 January 2006 he said that reconciliation with Jakarta without justice is meaningless.^[4]

From the establishment of the Episcopal Conference of Timor-Leste [de] (CET) in April 2012 until 2019, Nascimento served as its inaugural President.^[5]^[6]

On 31 March 2018, Nascimento collapsed during Mass at St. Anthony's Cathedral in Baucau and was rushed to Dili National Hospital. He recovered and was discharged on 4 April 2018. He was the head of the East Timorese Bishops' conference.^[7]

Bishop do Nascimento died from a heart attack on 30 October 2021, in the Guido Valadares National Hospital in Dili.^[8] The President of East Timor Francisco Guterres awarded Nascimento with the country's highest honour, the Order of Timor-Leste.^[9]

Honours[edit]

Ribbon	Award	Date awarded	Notes
	Grand Cross of the Order of Liberty, Portugal	7 December 1999	^[10]
	Collar of the Order of Timor-Leste	1 November 2021 (posthumous)	^[11]^[12]

References[edit]

^ "Timor-Leste: Bispo de Baucau preocupado com "praga" de seitas religiosas no país". Lusa Agencia do noticias. 1 February 2010. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2018.(in Portuguese)
^ Christalis, Irena. East Timor: A nation’s bitter dawn. Zed Books, London, 2009
^ Gusmão, K. S. A woman of independence. Pan 2003. p. 277.
^ "Reconciliation with Jakarta without justice is meaningless, says bishop of Baucau". Retrieved 22 March 2017.
^ RVA News (3 November 2021). "Timor-Leste: Bishop Basílio do Nascimento of Baucau dies at the age of 71". Radio Veritas Asia. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
^ "Conferência Episcopal Timorense" [Conference of Bishops]. GCatholic. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
^ UCANews April 6, 2018
^ Morreu Basílio do Nascimento, bispo da segunda maior cidade de Timor-Leste (in Portuguese)
^ Catholic Weekly, Australia, 14 November 2021
^ "PR lembra Basílio do Nascimento como "figura marcante" da independência de Timor" [President of the Republic recalls Basílio do Nascimento as a "marking figure" of Timor's independence]. Visão (in European Portuguese). TA (SPE) // ACL. 30 October 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
^ de Sousa, Nelson (1 November 2021). "Estadu kondekora Dom Basílio do Nascimento ho Colar Ordem Timor-Leste" [The State has awarded Dom Basilio do Nascimento the Collar of the Order of Timor-Leste] (in Tetum). Tatoli. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
^ Gomes, Domingas (1 November 2021). "Estadu Kondekora Bispo Dom Basilio do Nascimento Ho Colar Ordem Timor-Leste" [The State awards the Order of Timor-Leste to the Bishop Dom Basilio do Nascimento]. STLNEWS (in Tetum). Retrieved 23 March 2023.

External links[edit]

Basílio do Nascimento at catholic-hierarchy.org

Catholic Church titles
New title	Apostolic Administrator of Baucau 1996–2004	Succeeded by Himself as Bishop of Baucau
Preceded by Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo	Apostolic Administrator of Díli 2002–2004	Succeeded by Alberto Ricardo da Silva as Bishop of Díli
Preceded by Himself as Apostolic Administrator of Baucau	Bishop of Baucau 2004–2021	Succeeded by Leandro Maria Alves
Preceded by Alberto Ricardo da Silva as Bishop of Díli	Apostolic Administrator of Díli 2015–2016	Succeeded by Virgílio do Carmo da Silva as Bishop of Díli

[1] "Timor-Leste: Bispo de Baucau preocupado com "praga" de seitas religiosas no país". Lusa Agencia do noticias. 1 February 2010. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2018.(in Portuguese)

[2] Christalis, Irena. East Timor: A nation’s bitter dawn. Zed Books, London, 2009

[3] Gusmão, K. S. A woman of independence. Pan 2003. p. 277.

[4] "Reconciliation with Jakarta without justice is meaningless, says bishop of Baucau". Retrieved 22 March 2017.

[rvan_2023-11-03-5] RVA News (3 November 2021). "Timor-Leste: Bishop Basílio do Nascimento of Baucau dies at the age of 71". Radio Veritas Asia. Retrieved 13 June 2023.

[cg_cet-6] "Conferência Episcopal Timorense" [Conference of Bishops]. GCatholic. Retrieved 13 June 2023.

[7] UCANews April 6, 2018

[8] Morreu Basílio do Nascimento, bispo da segunda maior cidade de Timor-Leste (in Portuguese)

[9] Catholic Weekly, Australia, 14 November 2021

[v_2021-10-30-10] "PR lembra Basílio do Nascimento como "figura marcante" da independência de Timor" [President of the Republic recalls Basílio do Nascimento as a "marking figure" of Timor's independence]. Visão (in European Portuguese). TA (SPE) // ACL. 30 October 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2023.

[tatoli_2021-11-01-11] Sousa, Nelson (1 November 2021). "Estadu kondekora Dom Basílio do Nascimento ho Colar Ordem Timor-Leste" [The State has awarded Dom Basilio do Nascimento the Collar of the Order of Timor-Leste] (in Tetum). Tatoli. Retrieved 23 March 2023.

[stln_2021-11-01-12] Gomes, Domingas (1 November 2021). "Estadu Kondekora Bispo Dom Basilio do Nascimento Ho Colar Ordem Timor-Leste" [The State awards the Order of Timor-Leste to the Bishop Dom Basilio do Nascimento]. STLNEWS (in Tetum). Retrieved 23 March 2023.

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