Motael Church

Some of this section is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at :de:Santo António de Motael; see its history for attribution.

During the Portuguese colonial era, the district of Motael was the centre of Portuguese life in Dili. A church was first built at the present location around the year 1800, on land gifted by the liurai of "Mota-a in".{{Cite web |date=17 September 2015 |title=Motael Church |url=http://timor-tourism.tl/poi/religious-building/dili-waterfront/motael-church |url-status=dead |website=timor-tourism.tl |accessdate=12 November 2018 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20150917111314/http://timor-tourism.tl/poi/religious-building/dili-waterfront/motael-church |archivedate=17 September 2015}}

A reconstruction of the church was started around 1901. The completion date is unknown, but there are records of a completed church dating back to 1937. However, at that time the building did not have the bell tower and portico that it has today.{{Cite web |last=Boavida |first=Isabel |date=n.d. |title=Igreja de Santo António de Motael |url=https://hpip.org/pt/Heritage/Details/2226 |access-date=2022-07-14 |website=HPIP |language=pt}}

The building was partially destroyed by Japanese air raids during the Second World War.{{Cite book |url=https://issuu.com/incidentaldoc/docs/dilimonio__web_ |title=Património Arquitectónico de Origem Portuguesa de Díli / Patrimoniu Arkitetoniku Origem Portuguesa Dili Nian / Architectural Heritage of Portuguese Origins of Dili |date=2015 |publisher=Secretaria de Estado do Turismo, Arte e Cultura Timor-Leste |editor-last=Miranda |editor-first=Flávio |page=47 |language=pt,tet,en |editor-last2=Boavida |editor-first2=Isabel |via=Issuu}} It was rebuilt in 1955, and served as the de facto cathedral for the diocese of Dili until the inauguration of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in 1989.{{cite book |last1=Kohen |first1=Arnold S. |title=From the Place of the Dead: The Epic Struggles of Bishop Belo of East Timor |date=2001 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=9780312269340 |url=https://archive.org/details/fromplaceofdead00arno |url-access=registration |language=en}}

In 1975, in the turmoil of the withdrawal of the Portuguese from Timor, some Fretilin members decided to go occupy the church, perceiving it as an icon of colonialism. However, just before they reached the building, their leader fell from the truck and broke his clavicle. The group interpreted this event as a divine intervention, and aborted the operation.{{cite book |last1=Hicks |first1=David |title=Rhetoric and the Decolonization and Recolonization of East Timor |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317695356 |pages=128 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EEKDBAAAQBAJ |language=en}}

The church played an important role in the independence struggle. On 27 October 1991, young independence activists tried to demonstrate against the Indonesian occupation. While the Indonesian security forces ran after them, pastor Alberto Ricardo da Silva offered them protection in the church. At night, the Indonesians stormed the church and shot activist Sebastião Gomes, who then bled to death. On 12 November 1991, after the memorial service for Gomes, a demonstration started in front of the church and led to the Santa Cruz massacre, in which at least 271 people were killed by Indonesian security forces.{{cite book |last1=Pinto |first1=Constâncio |last2=Matthew |first2=Jardine |last3=Jardine |first3=Matthew |title=East Timor's Unfinished Struggle: Inside the Timorese Resistance |date=1997 |publisher=South End Press |isbn=9780896085411 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CdHlt6CSp54C |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Birmingham |first=John |title=Appeasing Jakarta: Australia's Complicity in the East Timor Tragedy |publisher=Quarterly Essay |year=2001 |isbn=1863953868 |location=Melbourne}}

During the 2006 East Timorese crisis, as many as 500 people took refuge in the church.{{cite web |title=Standing Firmly on the Ground {{!}} Kiva |url=http://pages.kiva.org/comment/73324 |website=pages.kiva.org |accessdate=12 November 2018 |language=en}}

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Category:Catholic Church in Timor-Leste

Category:Roman Catholic churches in Timor-Leste

Category:Buildings and structures in Dili

Category:Roman Catholic churches completed in 1955

Category:1955 establishments in the Portuguese Empire

Category:20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings