Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau was established on January 23, 1576 by the edict of Pope Gregory XIII. It originally covered China, Japan, Vietnam and the Malay archipelago, with the exception of the Philippines. It now only administers Macau alone, the last regions outside Macau under its administration were Singapore and Malacca (in 1981).

D. José Lai (黎鴻昇) is the current bishop, the first born in Macau and the second Chinese bishop (the first is Domingos Lam 林家駿). Its patron saints are Francis Xavier and Catherine of Siena, and its motto is Scientia et Virtus (Science and Virtue).

The diocese is immediately subject of the Holy See, instead of being in an ecclesiastical province. From its founding to 1975, the diocese was a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Goa, but this was changed following Portugal's loss of sovereignty over Goa.

[edit] Parishes

The Diocese has six parishes and three missionaries:

• Cathedral Parish
• Our Lady Fatima Parish
• Our Lady of Carmel Parish
• St. Anthony Parish
• St. Lawrence Parish
• St. Lazarus Parish
• St. Francis Xavier's Missionary in Coloane
• St. Joseph's Missionary at Iao Hon
• St. Francis Xavier's Missionary at Mong Há

[edit] See also

• list of Macao-related topics
• Giga-Catholic Information
•   "Macao". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.