Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau (Portuguese: Diocese de Macau; Chinese: 天主教澳門教區) is an exempt (i.e. an immediate subject of the Holy See and not part of any ecclesiastical province) Latin Rite diocese of the Catholic Church,[1] in contrast with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong, which is, de jure, part of the Ecclesiastical Province of Guangdong.
Dioecesis Macaonensis 天主教澳門教區 | |
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Location | |
Country | |
Territory | |
Statistics | |
Area | 30 km2 (12 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics | (as of 2013) 582,000 29,611 (5.1%) |
Information | |
Denomination | Catholic |
Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Cathedral | Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Bishop | Stephen Lee Bun-sang |
Vicar General | Father Pedro Chung |
Website | |
catholic.org.mo |
Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau | |||||||||||
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Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 天主教澳門教區 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 天主教澳门教区 | ||||||||||
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Portuguese name | |||||||||||
Portuguese | Diocese de Macau |
The territory of the Diocese of Macau encompasses Macau, a special administrative region of China. In theory, a part of Guangdong province also belongs to the diocese, but in practice, the diocese is limited to Macau.
Its cathedral is the Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady.
Its patron saints are Francis Xavier and Catherine of Siena, and its motto is Scientia et Virtus (Knowledge and Virtue).
Stephen Lee Bun-sang is the current bishop and the third Chinese bishop of the diocese.
History
It was established on January 23, 1576 by the edict of Pope Gregory XIII, on vast territory split off from Roman Catholic Diocese of Malacca. It originally covered China, Japan, Vietnam and the Malay archipelago, with the exception of the Philippines. From its founding, the diocese was a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese (soon Patriarchate) of Goa, in Portuguese India.
It gradually lost most of its territory, in and around continental China:
- on February 19, 1588 to establish the Diocese of Funai (Japan)
- on September 9, 1659 to establish the Apostolic Vicariate of Tonkin, the Apostolic Vicariate of Cochinchina (both in Vietnam), and Apostolic Vicariate of Nanjing
- on April 22, 1841 to establish the then-Apostolic Prefecture of Hong Kong
- on May 10, 1848 to establish the then-Apostolic Vicariate of Guangdong-Guangxi
- on April 9, 1940 to establish the Diocese of Díli (on Timor)
It was made exempt in 1975, following Portugal's loss of sovereignty over Goa, its former Metropolitan.
It now only administers Macau alone, the last regions outside Macau under its administration were the parishes of Saint Joseph in Singapore (re-united with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore c. 1972) and St. Peter's Church in Malacca (now as part of Roman Catholic Diocese of Malacca-Johor), which separated from the Diocese of Macau in 1981.
Bishops
Bishops of Macau
- Diego Núñez de Figueroa (1576-1578); never consecrated
- Leonardo Fernandes de Sá, O.Cist. (1578-1597)
- João de Abrantes a Pietate, O.P. (1604-1625)
- João de Casal (1690-1735)
- Eugénio de Trigueiros, O.E.S.A. (1735-1740), appointed Archbishop of Goa
- Hilário de Santa Rosa, O.F.M. (1740-1752)
- Bartolomeu Manoel Mendes dos Reis (1753-1773), appointed Bishop of Mariana
- Alexandre da Silva Pedrosa Guimarães (1773-1789)
- Marcelino José da Silva (1789-1802)
- Manuel de Santo Galdino, O.F.M. (1802-1804), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop and later Archbishop of Goa
- Francisco Chachim, O.F.M. Disc. (1804-1828)
- Nicolaus Rodrigues Pereira de Borja, C.M. (1843-1845)
- Jerónimo José de Mata, C.M. (1845-1862)
- Pereira Botelho do Amaral e Pimentel (1866-1871), appointed Bishop of Angra
- Manuel Bernardo de Sousa Enes (1874-1883), appointed Bishop of Bragança e Miranda and later Bishop of Portalegre
- António Joaquim de Medeiros (1884-1897)
- José Manuel de Carvalho (1897-1902), appointed Bishop of Angra
- João Paulino de Azevedo e Castro (1902-1918)
- José da Costa Nunes (1920-1940), appointed Archbishop of Goa and Daman (elevated to Cardinal in 1962)
- João de Deus Ramalho, S.J. (1942-1953)
- Policarpo da Costa Vaz (1954-1960), appointed Bishop of Guarda
- Paulo José Tavares (1961-1973)
- Arquimínio Rodrigues da Costa (1976-1988)
- Domingos Lam Ka-tseung (1988-2003)
- José Lai Hung-seng (2003-2016)
- Stephen Lee Bun-sang (2016-present)
Coadjutor Bishops
- José Lai Hung-seng (2001-2003)
- Domingos Lam Ka Tseung (1987-1988)
- Jerónimo José de Mata, C.M. (1844-1845)
- Eugénio Trigueiros, O.S.A. (1725-1735)
Parishes
The Diocese is divided in:
- six parishes (five in Macau Peninsula and one on Taipa island):
- Cathedral Parish
- St. Lazarus
- St. Anthony
- St. Lawrence
- Our Lady of Fátima
- Church of Our Lady of Carmel, Taipa
- two quasi-parishes, both on Macau Peninsula:
- St. Francis Xavier, Mong Há
- St. Joseph, Iao Hon
- one mission (on Coloane island):
- St. Francis Xavier, Coloane
Schools
The following schools are directly operated by the diocese:
- Preschool through secondary school
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- Colégio Diocesano de São José - Sé (not in Macau's tuition-free school network)[2]
- Colégio Diocesano de São José 5 - Nossa Senhora de Fátima (not in Macau's tuition-free school network)[3]
- Escola de São Paulo - Nossa Senhora de Fátima[4]
- Preschool through junior high school
- Escola do Santíssimo Rosário - Santo António[5] (Closed[6])
- Preschool and primary school
- Escola Dom João Paulino - Taipa[7]
- Escola Madalena de Canossa - Nossa Senhora de Fátima[8]
- Escola de Santa Teresa do Menino Jesus - Nossa Senhora de Fátima[9]
There are other Catholic schools in Macau which are operated by Catholic orders.
See also
- List of bishops of Macau
- list of Macao-related topics
References
- "Macau marks 440th anniversary". Sunday Examiner. Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong. 17 January 2016. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- "Colégio Diocesano de São José." Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (Macau). Retrieved on April 9, 2017. "Endereço : Rua da Sé, no.19" - Chinese profile: "學校地址: 大堂街十九號"
- "Colégio Diocesano de São José 5." Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (Macau). Retrieved on April 9, 2017. "Endereço : Rua Central de Toi San, no. 253" - Chinese profile: "學校地址: 台山中街253號"
- "Escola São Paulo." Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (Macau). Retrieved on April 9, 2017. "Endereço : Rampa dos Cavaleiros, nos.12-14" - Chinese profile: "學校地址: 黑沙灣斜坡12-14號"
- "Escola do Santíssimo Rosário." Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (Macau). Retrieved on April 9, 2017. "Endereço : Largo da Companhia, No. 14, Macau" Chinese profile: "學校地址: 老人院前地14號"
- "Escola do Santíssimo Rosário to close in 2017". O Clarim. 2016-06-17. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
- "Escola Dom João Paulino." Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (Macau). Retrieved on April 9, 2017. "Endereço : Avenida de Carlos da Maia, s/n, Taipa" - Chinese profile: "學校地址: 嘉路士米耶大馬路"
- "Escola Madalena de Canossa." Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (Macau). Retrieved on April 9, 2017. "Endereço : Rua do Comandante João Belo Fai Chi Kei, no.28" - Chinese profile: "學校地址: 筷子基俾若翰街28號"
- "Escola de Santa Teresa do Menino Jesus." Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (Macau). Retrieved on April 9, 2017. "Endereço : Avenida Conselheiro Borja, no.592" - Chinese profile: "學校地址: 青洲大馬路592號"
External links
- Diocese de Macau (in Chinese)
- GCatholic.org with incumbent biography links
- Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
- UCAN Diocese profile