Former priest runs for the 2022 East Timorese Presidential Election

Former Catholic priest Martinho Germano da Silva Gusmao has officially declared to run East Timor's presidential elections on March 19, 2022.

The decision was made after Pope Francis gave the former priest a dispensation on October 13, 2021.

Speaking to RVA News, the priest affirmed that he is not new to politics. Since elementary school, Gusmao has been in politics when he served as personal assistant to the late Bishop Basilio in the Dare I and II Dialogues in 1998 and 1999.

The former priest's decision to "freefall" in a presidential race was based on three main reasons: a revolution in education, justice and peace, and the idea that all people are equal.

Gusmao strives to build the educational foundation from below. "I want to be a promoter for the liberation pedagogy movement," he said.

During Gusmao’s time as chair of the Baucau Diocese's Justice and Peace Commission, it has been hard for him to be a part of the fight for justice and peace.

He also said that Pope Francis is concerned about a movement for human brotherhood, which is also at the heart of the Republic of Timor Leste (RDTL) constitution.

“It is a moral calling,” Gusmao says.  

He added that the choice to become president means a "change of position from talkative and scribe to being a servant of the state for the sake of the people of Timor-Leste."

Gusmao’s struggle to be outside the "church hierarchy" was a decision that affected the  Catholic-majority country.

"My decision was born from a long struggle when every day I had to listen to church songs that always sounded like "suffering," "tears," "sickness," "screaming" and "dead." All of that challenged my conscience,” Gusmao says.

For Gusmao, the fight for the number one seat in Timor Leste is the gateway to achieving a conscience’s call.  He admits it is “the voice of God."

“Not listening to the heart's voice is the same as not hearing God's complaints. That means betraying others and sinning against God,” said Gusmao

If elected, Gusmao promises to stand by values of justice and humanity based on the Catholic faith.

The Democratic Republic of Timor Leste will hold its fifth presidential election on March 19, 2022.

The National Commission on Elections (CNE) said 17 candidates for president in the election, including Lu Olo, the current president, and Ramos Horta, the former president who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, declared independence in 2002 after a 24-year occupation by Indonesia. From 100 in 1974 to over 800 churches in 1994, Catholics made up 96.9 percent of the population in 2022.

The country has an archdiocese of Dili, along with the dioceses of Baucau and Maliana.