However, last week Fr. Yohanes Suban Gapun, SVD’s regional superior based in Dili, told Tempo Timor that during Daschbach’s stay in Dili ‘many people’ came to visit the priest. ‘Mr. Taur Matan Ruak and his wife also came here to visit and talked to Daschbach. They asked me and said, please let him go back to Oecusse because many people there still adore and respect him a lot. Please let him go back to Oecusse because he is also too old and let him die in peace there.’

Daschbach, an American originally from Pittsburg, USA, arrived in 1986 in Oecusse. In 1992 he established the Topu Honis Shelter Home, which has two locations in East Timor’s enclave. According to the organisation’s website it is ‘a safe haven’ for orphans, children ‘from extremely poor homes, disabled adults, and women fleeing abuse.’ Topu Honis says it provides health care, food, schooling, ‘shelter and safety’, sponsorships for education, employment opportunities and cultural preservation. Over the years it ‘has served more than 600 children and adults in the area,’ the website says.

Sexual abuse

In the orphanage of Kutet girls were allegedly sexually abused by Daschbach, says Fr. Gapun. When early 2018 the congregation received information with accusations of sexual abuse, the head of SVD in Rome sent an email to Gapun, who was asked to go to Oecusse and take Daschbach to Dili. While the congregation investigated the case the priest was suspended and forbidden to perform his priestly celebrations. During a phone conversation with the superior general in Rome Daschbach confessed. ‘It is100 percent true,’ Gapun heard him saying. ‘He repeated that four times.’ In August 2018 Daschbach himself resigned from SVD and went back to his community where he allegedly committed the abuse. So far, East Timor’s police has not yet arrested Daschbach, who is still living in the shelter in Kutet, Oecusse.

A few months ago the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) at the Vatican laicised Richard Daschbach which means he is forbidden to perform his priestly tasks. This was confirmed to Tempo Timor by Father Jovito Rêgo de Jesus Araújo, Episcopal Vicar for Pastoral Care of the Diocese of Dili.

It is the first time that media publish about a case of sexual abuse of minors by a member of the Catholic clergy in Timor-Leste. On the question whether there are more cases, prime minister Taur Matan Ruak said: ‘That question should be put to the judge or prosecutor. People speculate about many, without proof. I don’t know if there are more cases. That question should be put to prosecutor general or police, but not the prime minister.’

Speaking more in general about sexual abuse allegations against the clergy, the prime minister said: ‘Let justice take care of that. The process is undergoing. I have a lot of respect for that, and I let police and justice system take care of issue.’