There are about 6,000 migrant workers from Timor-Leste in South Korea, mostly young people in their 20s who work on fishing boats in fishing villages or are employed in rural areas of the country doing simple but very hard jobs.
The Cardinal shared a warm and fraternal moment with the Salesians, once he arrived at the Salesian Provincial House. Having already visited South Korea three times - in 2000 when he was Formation Delegate for the Timor-Leste-Indonesia Vice-Province; in 2017 when he was Vice-Provincial and in 2021 when he was ordained Archbishop of Dili - Cardinal do Carmo da Silva has a great interest and knowledge of this country. In particular, the number of young migrant workers in South Korea has increased dramatically in recent years, and he has made great efforts to provide them with pastoral assistance. His visit to this country is therefore intended to meet these migrant workers.
Timor-Leste is a young country, with 65% of its 1.3 million inhabitants under the age of 30. More than 6,000 of these young people are migrant workers in South Korea, or 0.5% of the population. As the Cardinal explains, "every month, hundreds of young people leave Timor-Leste for foreign countries such as Australia and South Korea, in search of work and a better future, which means that all this is scarce in Timor-Leste."
However, the Salesian Cardinal offered a different perspective with regard to migrant workers from Timor-Leste. In fact, they are not only people who fill the labour shortage in South Korea, but renew the vitality and witness of faith of the local Church. The devastation of rural areas has led to the emptying of local churches, and it is hoped that migrant workers from Timor-Leste who work in these areas will be able to fill the void for some time and integrate well enough to visibly witness their deep faith in Korean society.
Having just hosted Pope Francis, Cardinal Virgílio do Carmo da Silva had a suggestion of great wisdom for the Korean Church, which will also host World Youth Day in 2027. "The young people want to meet the Pope," he said. "We bishops were very surprised to see how enthusiastic the young people were about the Holy Father's presence alone." The Archbishop of Dili prayed that the next WYD would be a place of "reconciliation", that it would heal the many wounds in Korea and throughout East Asia. "Hundreds of thousands of young people will come from all over the world" he recalled "and if only we could have a party of reconciliation with them... Between North and South, between neighbouring countries, between rich and poor, between generations, between ethnic groups, between religions, between regions and between histories... We have so much to reconcile, and I hope that Seoul 2027 will be the centre, because there will never be another opportunity like this, with young people coming together and playing a leading role in advancing reconciliation. They will themselves become messengers of reconciliation and will spread it throughout the world," the Cardinal said.
Cardinal do Carmo da Silva also expressed his gratitude and best wishes to the Korean Church and the Salesian Family. "The Korean Church and the Salesian Family have been generous in helping us in East Timor with various projects and I am grateful that thanks to their support the lives of our people are gradually improving and our hopes for the future are becoming brighter. I ask you to continue to demonstrate your spirit of solidarity with humanity and the love of Christ, and in particular I ask the Korean Church to help our migrant workers."
After the visit to the Salesians, the cardinal left for Asan, where the Congress of migrant workers took place.
