DILI, Diocese of. - On the island of Timor in the Indonesian archipelago. It is the capital city of the Portuguese colony of Timor, that is, of the eastern part of the island, which is the largest of those in the Lesser Sunda group. The island was discovered in 1522 by Magellan's companions and occupied by the Portuguese. Part of the island was taken by the Dutch in the mid-17th century.
Catholicism penetrated the island with the Portuguese; and Catholics depend ecclesiastically on Macao. The suppression of the religious Orders in Portugal caused much harm to the mission. By virtue of the missionary agreement between the Holy See and the Portuguese Republic of 7 May 1940 (AAS, 22 [1940], p. 238, art. 6), Pope Pius XII, with his apostolic constitution Solemnibus conventionibus, dated 4 September of the same year, separated from the diocese of Macao the portion of the island of Timor belonging to Portugal and erected it into a diocese with its seat in the city of D.; the church of the Immaculate Conception was elevated to cathedral. The diocese is a suffragan of Goa (AAS, 23 [1941], pp. 14-18).
The diocese has an area of 19,000 sq km with 420,430 inhabitants, of whom 35,001 are Catholics; it has 49 churches, 11 parishes, 19 diocesan priests and 5 regulars; two male religious houses with 12 professed and 3 female with 23 sisters; 27 male educational institutions with 2,509 pupils and 3 female with 351 pupils (1948).
Enrico Josi