MIGRANTS: MISSIONARIES OF HOPE – Celebrating the 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugee in Macau

On Sunday 19 October 2025, the Church in  Macau celebrates World Day of Migrants and Refugees spearheaded by the Pastoral Center of Filipino Migrants, the celebration was highlighted with a mass presided by the Bishop of Macau, Bishop Stephen Lee. Fr. Raymund Gaspar, the priest in charge of the Filipino migrants and a number of missionary priests concelebrated during the holy mass. The celebration was also a day  set aside to raise awareness about the challenges faced by migrants in Macau  and around the world, in order to promote solidarity and compassion toward them

TREASURE OF SACRED ART OF SAINT JOSEPH’S SEMINARY – Macau Diocese Ponders the Creation of a New Exhibition Space

Nearly nine years after opening its doors, the Treasure of Sacred Art of Saint Joseph’s Seminary closed for good in mid-September, as requested by the Catholic Diocese of Macau. The local Church cites the need to repurpose the project’s amenities as a justification for the decision. The facilities will be used both by the newly-founded Catholic Institute of Theology in Macau and by Saint Joseph’s Diocesan School. 

Macau Children Offer Up Prayers for World Peace

At least 15 children and youth from the Portuguese-speaking Catholic community of the Sé Cathedral parish joined, earlier this week, thousands of children from around the world to pray for peace. The Catholic Diocese of Macau joined the “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” campaign, organized by the Aid to the Church in Need Pontifical Foundation, for the fourth consecutive year. 

FATHER CARLOS LUIS CODORNIÚ, SCJ – Love That Leads Us and Allows Us to Go Beyond the Peripheries

The Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus established earlier this week a new Formation House in Taipa island. The project was officially inaugurated and blessed last Monday and brought Father Carlos Luis Suárez Codorníu once again to Macau. The Superior General of the Priests of the Sacred Heart introduced the vocational center, whose fundamental purpose is to prepare postulants “so that they can better serve the Church in China”. The new Blessed Juan María de la Cruz Formation House is currently home to four young men, three from Vietnam and one from India, but the number may increase as early as next year, Father Carlos Luis Codorniú told “O Clarim”.

ANTÓNIO MACHADO, ON THE LIFE OF CARLO ACUTIS – Beacon of Hope and a Role Model for Contemporary Christians

Pope Leo XIV proclaimed, earlier this month, the first two saints of his papacy, in a historic ceremony at Saint Peter’s Square, including the first saint of the millennial generation. Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, two Italian lay young men born nearly a century apart, joined the ranks of Saint Therese of Lisieux and Saint Dominic Savio as saints of the Roman Catholic Church. The Holy Father urged young people around the world to look to the new saints’ testimony of faith as an example. In Portugal, where Saint Carlo’s spiritual legacy is touching more and more hearts, floats bearing the image of the young Italian saint took to the streets of several parishes’ hours after the teenagers’ canonization. António Machado, a deacon who wrote one of the first ever books about Carlo Acutis in the Portuguese language, explains why the Italian teenager, who died of leukemia in 2006, became a mass phenomenon among young people. Acutis, Mr. Machado told “O Clarim”, stands out as beacon of hope and a role model for contemporary Christians. 

NEW ACADEMIC YEAR BEGINS – Macau’s Catholic Schools Open for New School Year

It’s back to the classroom for students at the Catholic schools across the Catholic Diocese of Macau, where the new academic year holds the hope for the continuous fulfillment of its mission: a distinctive holistic approach that involves the education of the whole person by integrating faith, culture and life. “We are excited to see our students’ joyful faces and renewed energy fill our classrooms and hallways once again,” said Fr Leonard Dollentas, vice principal of the English section at Colégio Diocesano de São José 2, in his traditional opening speech in the school. “We begin this school year with a renewed sense of hope,” he said. “The last years brought many challenges for families and for schools. I am looking forward to seeing our school communities prosper in their mission for the church.”