An Asian Adventure

Some priests don’t travel much but some do.  I seem to be one of the later.  This winter, after spending time in the Middle East, I headed to the Far East.

I am back at my home parish in Italy now, after spending most of December in Dubai.  (I wrote a little bit about that here.)  After Dubai I was sent to Macau.  I spent part of January and February at the diocesan university there, Saint Joseph University, in Macau, teaching a course in medieval philosophy.

People say travel broadens one horizons and I have to concur.  I learned a quite a bit during my travels.

The Diocese of Macau

In spite of its small size, the Catholic history of Macau is large.  This is due in no small part to the Portuguese who established the city as a colony.  Portugal leased Macau from China in 1557 and only recently returned it to China (in 1999).

A short while after I arrived, the diocese celebrated the 450th anniversary of its foundation in 1576.  The Diocese of Macau has the distinction of being “the first diocese created in the Far East in modern times.” In contrast, Manilla, in the Philippines, became an Archdiocese in  1579, and Hong Kong did not become a diocese until 1946.

Today the Diocese of Macau encompasses only Macau, but early on its territory was considerably larger.  Originally it “was responsible for a wide swath of Asia, including China, Korea, Japan, Tonkin (North Vietnam), and the islands around the continental Far East.” That would have been quite the diocese to oversee!

A Unique Culture

Part of the beauty of the Catholic Church is, in my view, the fact that it is precisely Catholic.  By this I mean universal,  from the Greek katholikos. While the language of the prayers and the Mass might change, Catholicism is the same everywhere.

However, part of the wisdom of the Church is that she can adjust to the local culture. The clearest example of this adjustment took place at the end of a meeting of the bishop with the clergy of the Diocese of Macau. At the time, we were approaching both the beginning of Lent as well as the start of the Chinese or Lunar New Year.

This year the Lunar New Year began on Fat Tuesday, the day prior to Ash Wednesday. However, as the bishop indicated, the celebration of the New Year is so important in the culture that the Church makes exceptions to the general rules of penance. In his note to the diocese, Bishop Lee stated:

“Ash Wednesday, 18th February 2026, also falls on the second day of the Lunar New Year. According to customary practice, when traditional festive celebrations occur, the faithful are dispensed from both fast and abstinence. However, they should choose other acts of penance or charity to maintain the penitential spirit of the day.”

Readers in Europe and the Americas might have the same reaction I did: no fasting or abstinence on Ash Wednesday?! Indeed, parishioners in Macau could go to Mass, receive their ashes, and then enjoy a lovely meal of duck, pork, rice, and egg tarts (a traditional dish).

In most of Asia the Church gives this dispensation. This is because of the importance of the New Year and the absence of other holidays in China. (I am told this is so because the Communists eliminated almost all the other celebrations.  As such, the New Year celebration acquired even greater importance.)

Likewise, although I had left before Lent started, I was happy to receive pictures from the procession with the statue of Bom Jesus dos Passos. Following a Portuguese tradition, on the First Saturday and Sunday of Lent a statue of Jesus carrying the Cross makes its way through the city. This tradition dates to 1587.

 A Christian Minority

While it is impossible to know what percentage of the population of Macau is Christian, most estimates place it at around five percent. However, thanks to the pioneering work of the Salesians, Jesuits, and numerous religious congregations of sisters, Catholic schools provide most of the primary and secondary education in Macau. Today Catholic schools educate some 80 percent of the children in Macau.

For this reason, even though Christians are in the minority, priests and religious have plenty of work to do. Between education and Caritas, the diocese maintains a highly visible and very important presence in the city.

However,  there is also a silent, hidden presence. I was honored to be able to celebrate Mass on several occasions for the Trappistine nuns at the Monastery of Our Lady Star of Hope. These sisters pray in their monastery atop Penha Hill which overlooks the city. They emulate the statue of Mary in front of their monastery who, with hands outstretched, overlooks the city.  These cloistered sisters pray for the conversion of sinners and the world, and in a special way for the city in which they live.

I was also especially blessed to participate in a very special celebration at the monastery.   On January 26th, with the approval of both the general chapter of the Trappistines and the Holy See, the Monastery of Our Lady Star of Hope was erected as a simple priory during a Mass presided by the bishop of Macau.

Previously, the monastery was merely a “foundation.”  This means it depended on the motherhouse that had originally sent the sisters to begin the foundation. (In this case, the sisters were from the Bunda Pemersatu monastery in Gedono, Indonesia.)

With the decree, however, the monastery changed status.  It went from a foundation dependent on the motherhouse in Indonesia to a monastery in its own right. The decree is a recognition of the stability of the religious life.  It is also a recognition of the slow but sure growth of the community with vocations, temporary and perpetual professions, and apostolates.

While this change might not seem very significant, it has immense consequences on the community. The Trappistines are part of the Benedictine family and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict.  (The Trappists are a reform of the Cistercians who are themselves a reform of the Benedictines.  As such, Trappists often use the abbreviation O.C.S.O. after their names, meaning Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance).

As some readers might know, part of what made Saint Benedict’s rule so important was that he included a vow of stability. The Benedictines were meant to stay at one monastery for their entire lives.

With the decree read and the homily preached, each sister, in order of seniority, approached the altar. Reading the formula of their perpetual profession, they changed their stability from the motherhouse in Indonesia to their home in Macau. Henceforth, the sisters belong to the Monastery of Our Lady Star of Hope in Macau. There they will work, pray, live, and die.

Some Lessons Learned

My Asian adventure has certainly taught me a great deal. Because I travel and see the Church all over the world, I get to see just how catholic the Catholic Church really is. The sacrifice of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, the communion of  saints, and so much more are all shared across the globe.  This is a global heritage that we inherit simply because we are members of the Church.

Every nation, every state, every city, and every person has their struggles, difficulties, and challenges, as well as their gifts, talents, and blessings. The future for Macau is uncertain, but, then again, the future anywhere in the world is uncertain. However, seeing the joy of a group of Trappistines professing their stability amid an uncertain world reminds me that only Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The motto of the Cistercian order is Stat crux dum volvitur orbis, meaning, “The cross stands while the world turns.” Perhaps that would be a good motto for all Christians and all Catholics: only in Jesus Christ and His cross can we find true stability.