Ave Maria Church is a Roman Catholic church in Suai, East Timor. It is best known for the largest massacre of 1999 which occurred at the church, where thousands of refugees had sought sanctuary. On September 6, Indonesian military and militias stormed the churchyard, killing hundreds of people, including three priests.[1]
The town of Suai stands 180km from the capital Dili.[2] It is in the district of Cova Lima in the Diocese of Maliana.
The first to enter the church were scores of militiamen, armed with machetes, swords, knives, and home-made firearms. Immediately behind them were a mixed group of Indonesian soldiers and militiamen. According to witnesses, the militias headed first toward the priests’ and nuns’ quarters, adjacent to the old church. As they proceeded they hacked, stabbed, and shot many people in their path.
The District of Cova Lima was the scene of widespread human rights violations both before and after the ballot in 1999.
At least 40 people, but possibly as many as 200, were killed in the massacre. Of the 40 whose identities were known by late 2002, three were Catholic priests, ten were under the age of 18, and more than a dozen were women. The dead were among some 1,500- 2,000 people who had taken refuge at the old church, in the Priest’s quarters adjacent to it, and in a new half-built church a few hundred meters away, because of mounting violence and intimidation by militias and security forces.
Among the first to be killed were the three priests, Father Hilario Madeira, Father Francisco Soares, both Timorese, and Father Tarsisius Dewanto, who was Indonesian.[3]
The Ave Maria church has a 70-foot-tall steeple.[4] Ten years later, workers are still repairing the ruined structure, because the people of Suai have not had the funds to repair it until now.[2]