著者

Toru Ueda 上田 達

出版者

国立民族学博物館

雑誌

国立民族学博物館研究報告 = Bulletin of the National Museum of Ethnology (ISSN:0385180X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.43, no.3, pp.351-366, 2019-01-25

---

This chapter examines a reconciliation ceremony held at an urban settlementin Dili, Timor-Leste. The ceremony was aimed at ending violencecaused by Martial Arts Groups, which had made the settlement notorious inDili. Previous concerted efforts to curb this violence had been unsuccessful;despite the several programmes established in attempts to tackle the problem,violence became a part of daily life. Cruz Joven—the practices ofpiety (exercitia pietatis) introduced to Timor-Leste during the Indonesianera—was brought to the settlement to commemorate 500 years of the presenceof the Church. This became a central point of the ceremony, andreconciliation has since been effective. Elements from two belief systems,Catholicism and traditional beliefs, were employed in the ceremony.Following the event, the situation changed dramatically, although someincidents have continued to occur. Catholic faith has been held firmly bythe people of Timor-Leste, especially after Indonesian occupation.Conversely, traditional beliefs formed and adopted from the local contextalso have an appealing power for locals.