Location
:
Ossú, Timor Leste
On July 17, 1976, during a plenary session of the People's Representative Council attended by 13 regencies, East Timor was officially incorporated into the Republic of Indonesia (RI) and became the 27th province with Dili as its capital. On November 5, 1988, President Soeharto announced that 8 of the 13 districts in East Timor were open to Indonesians and foreigners to enter the region. Many Muslims began to arrive, and places of worship such as prayer rooms and mosques began to be built. Church leaders and community leaders became concerned about their growing presence in East Timor.
At the KOPTARI meeting in 1988, Bishop Carlos Filipi Ximenes Belo, SDB, Bishop of East Timor, expressed this concern. He appealed to the Congregation of Priests and Religious to come and serve in his diocese. The urgent needs were education, health care, and pastoral care to accompany the growth of the faithful's faith. The bishop's concern received a positive response from most of the religious leaders present at the meeting, including the Provincial of SCMM Indonesia, Sr. Rosalina Kusnoharjono. On July 31, 1988, Sr. Rosalina arrived at Komoro Airport, where she was welcomed by Colonel's men and escorted to the PRR convent in Kuluhun. Together with Sr. Yosefa, PRR, she met with Bishop Carlos Filipi Ximenes Belo, SDB. During the meeting, the bishop asked the SCMM sisters to work in the eastern sector, which was prone to insecurity, namely in Ossú. The sisters were entrusted with managing the boys' and girls' dormitories and the orphanage.
Sr. Rosalina inspected the place, a wooden house on a hill that would become the sisters' residence. Below the hill stood a very simple old stone building, where the Boys' Dormitory, Girls' Dormitory, and Orphanage were located, still in the same complex as the old church and rectory. At that time, the parish priest was
Fr. Sancho Amaral.
Seeing the needs of children and the community who were in dire need of both spiritual and material services and driven by a sense of solidarity and compassion in the spirit of Our Lady of Mercy, two pioneer sisters were sent to begin their charitable work in this place. The two sisters are: Sr. Lusia Telambanua, who manages the Boys' and Girls' Dormitory and Orphanage belonging to the Parish of Santa Teresinha, and Sr. Hermin Bu'ulölö, who is the community superior and teaches at the junior and senior high schools.
On November 11, 1989, the two pioneer sisters, together with the Provincial of SCMM, Sr. Rosalina Kusnoharjono, arrived in Ossú, where the patron saint of the community is St. Lukas. Sr. Lusia's presence brought a breath of fresh air to the boys and girls in the dormitory and the children in the orphanage, while Sr. Hermin taught Indonesian Language and Religion at the junior and senior high schools, and was also active in pastoral work at the school and in catechesis for the faithful. On November 1, 1991, the parish of Santa Teresinha officially handed over the management and ownership of the St. Joseph Boys' and Girls' dormitory to the SCMM Congregation. In response to the development and needs of the community, the sisters also opened a kindergarten. To date, the works carried out by the sisters in the Ossú Community are the Boys' and Girls' Dormitories, the Boys' and Girls' Orphanage, the Kindergarten, the Guesthouse, and Pastoral Care.
Paroki Santa Terezinha
Viqueque-885750
OSSÚ
TIMOR LESTE
Phone: +670-78459422