Last Saturday (August 27, 2022) Pope Francis at the Ordinary Public Consistory held in St. Peter’s Basilica, created 20 new Cardinals. It is our joy to note that an alumnus of Don Bosco School of Theology, His Eminence Cardinal Virgilio do Carmo da Silva, Archbishop of Dili Timor – Leste, joins the list of the new Cardinals.
Cardinal Virgilio do Carmo da Silva was born on 27 November 1967 in Venilale, East Timor. After attending Salesian primary and secondary schools in Fatumaca, he joined the Salesians of Don Bosco and made his first profession on 31 May 1990. From 1994-1998 he studied Theology at Don Bosco School of Theology. He made his perpetual profession on 19 March 1997 and was ordained a priest on 18 December 1998. From 1999 to 2004 and again from 2007 to 2014 Cardinal da Silva was a novice master for the Salesians. From 2005- 2007 he did his Licentiate in Spirituality at the Universita Pontificia Salesiana (UPS) Rome. From 2009 to 2014 he was the director of the Technical School of Nossa Senhora de Fatima in Fatumaca. In 2015 he became the Provincial of East Timor and Indonesia’s vice-province. On January 30, 2016, he was appointed by Pope Francis as Bishop of Dili. In September 2019, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Virgílio do Carmo da Silva as Timor-Leste’s first archbishop.
