The Society of St. Paul established a missionary community in Macau on March 7, 1987 upon the invitation of the Bishop of Macau, and with the recommendation from the SSP General Government to start an apostolate of presence in China. The Macau community was later added to the Philippine circumscription.
Macau was a former Portuguese colony but it was handed back to China on 20 December 1999. Macau operates under the "one country, two systems" policy and it enjoys a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer.
The Superior General Don Silvio Sassi, Fratel Walter Rodriguez, and Fr. Ruben Areno celebrates the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul with the Pauline Family at the Retreat House managed by the Anunciatini in Coloane Island, Macau. The day was full of fraternal sharing and camaraderie capped with a sumptuous meal Chinese-style.
January 26, 2010 – Inside China
Chinese friends organized a Cultural Tour to the Zili Diaolou or fortified watchtowers --- a cluster of houses found in Kaiping, Guangdong Province. Kaiping has traditionally been a region of major emigration abroad, and a melting pot of ideas and trends brought back by overseas Chinese who returned. The Diaolou were fortress-like buildings constructed with a dual function in mind: for housing and as a defensive structure against brigands.
In the afternoon, the group dropped by the Kong-Mun Diocese in China and greeted the Bishop elect Rev. Fr. Leong Kin Sam in the newly renovated church. The Chinese Vicar explained the slow growth and rebuilding of the faith that had withstood the changes of times.
January 27, 2010 – Meeting with the Bishop of Macau
After an inspection of the dual heritage (Chinese and Portuguese) at the Macau Museum near the ruins of St. Paul Cathedral, the Superior General Don Silvio Sassi, Fratel Walter Rodriguez, Fr. Ruben Areno and the Pauline Priests in Macau paid a visit to the Bishop José Lai Hung-seng D.D., and Father Joao Evangelista Lau Him-sang, the parish priest of the Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady.
Next is a brief stop at the A Ma Temple --- a 7,000-square meter cultural complex commemorating the beloved deity's legend. And close-by is the world's tallest statue of the seafarer’s goddess A-Ma (also known as Tian Hou), which stands on a 170-metre high peak on a mountaintop on Macau's Coloane Island.
The day closed with a supper shared with the Daughters of St. Paul Macau community; and a brief stop at The Venetian.
January 28, 2010 – SSP Community Meeting at the Yee Cheong Garden
The three Pauline priests report to the Visitators about their mission performed in various ways: Fr. Ramon A. Manalo acts as the delegate of the Provincial Superior. He takes care of St. Francis Xavier Church, a quasi-parish in Coloane. Fr. Albino Bento Pais is the editor-in-chief of “O Clarim”, a diocesan weekly bulletin which caters to the Portuguese community. Fr. Edgar P. Pasaporte is the Parochial Vicar at the Macau Cathedral, and acts as the bursar and secretary of the SSP community. The China Mission is complex and needs to be seen from inside; but the prospects and the summons to evangelization is vast and calls for young and zealous missionaries.
