Virgílio do Carmo da Silva

Virgílio do Carmo da Silva, SDB (born 27 November 1967) is a Timorese Catholic prelate who was appointed Bishop of Dili on 30 January 2016. He became an archbishop when the diocese was elevated in 2019.

Prior to his appointment to the episcopacy, he held various offices with the Society of St. Francis de Sales (the Salesians of Don Bosco).

On 27 August 2022, Pope Francis made him a cardinal, the first from Timor-Leste.

Early life and education Do Carmo da Silva was born in Venilale, in the then Baucau District, Portuguese Timor (now Timor-Leste), and is a son of José do Carmo and Isabel da Silva.

Do Carmo da Silva attended Salesian primary and secondary schools in , Baucau District.

In 1983, he made his aspirancy, pre-Seminary, in Fatumaca, and in 1989–1990 he entered the novitiate, also in Fatumaca.

Episcopacy On 30 January 2016, Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Díli. Government officials, including President Taur Matan Ruak, sent congratulations, marking the end of years of contentious relations between the government and religious leaders.

In April 2018, do Carmo da Silva spoke in support of the launch by the Catholic Church and the government of Timor-Leste of a campaign to promote inbound spiritual pilgrimages. In his view, it was time for the church and government to unite and develop forms of religious tourism. "Sacred places are not only bringing people closer to God. They also have economic and cultural values," he said. He also asked his diocese's parish priests to collaborate with those who maintained the country's religious sites, not merely to keep them clean, but also to give visiting pilgrims peace of mind.

The following month, police in Díli were placed on high alert after learning of potential attacks by Islamic extremists on churches as well as do Carmo da Silva, after the recent elections in the country.

On 11 September 2019, Pope Francis created the ecclesiastical province of Díli, making Díli a metropolitan archdiocese, and appointed do Carmo da Silva as the archdiocese's and Timor-Leste's first archbishop.

With his background as an educator, do Carmo da Silva has worked closely with the Timorese government in an effort to improve the country's educational opportunities and its quality of education. As Timor-Leste has a very young population (with an average age in 2020 of only 20.8 years), he has also emphasised the task of educating and forming young people in the Catholic faith.

Do Carmo da Silva has also sometimes commented on more general political matters. For example, in the lead up to the 19 April 2022 presidential election in Timor-Leste, he called on the eventual winner to "keep his election promises so that the people do not lose confidence" and to "be close to the people not only during the campaign, but also during the term of office, so he can know the difficulties faced by the citizens." He also urged Timorese to "uphold the Constitution" and work together in converting their nation "into a peaceful, prosperous and democratic society". the first such official from Timor-Leste. Do Carmo da Silva was surprised to hear that he was among the 21 new cardinals Pope Francis had decided to elevate. "I am convinced that Pope Francis did not offer this to me, Virgilio, but rather to the Church and the people of Timor-Leste," he said at a news conference the following day. At the age of 54, he became the second youngest cardinal, after Bishop Giorgio Marengo, 48, Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.

That week, he also told an interviewer that Timor-Leste's having a Catholic majority had eased reconciliation with Indonesia after Timor-Leste's independence was restored in 2002. He praised Timor-Leste's adoption earlier in 2022 of the Document on Human Fraternity signed by Pope Francis and Ahmed el-Tayeb in 2019. He also noted that the country's efforts to promote religious tourism include representatives of other religions, that there was already a large mosque in Dili and a large Hindu temple was under construction.

In early September 2022, the new cardinal visited the headquarters of the Portuguese Province of the Salesians, in Lisbon, where he was received by the provincial superior and by the acting director of the Salesians in Lisbon.

He participated as a cardinal elector in the 2025 papal conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV.