Marco Carvalho
October is a month of celebration in the parish of Our Lady of Fatima, but the aggravation of the epidemiological panorama in Macau has drawn a veil of uncertainty over the parish festivities. The celebrations should reach their peak on October 13th, with an abridged version of the procession of Our Lady of Fatima.
In Our Lady of Fatima parish, October is synonymous with celebration, but the community outbreak of Covid-19 that Macau has been facing since last Saturday has cast a shadow over the festive panorama. The Diocese has decided to keep churches closed outside Mass times “until further notice,” but in Fatima parish there’s the fear that the aggravation of the epidemiological panorama can lead to the suspension of the parish feast on October 10th and the cancellation of the procession of Our Lady of Fatima, on October 13th.
“The parish plans to conduct the procession outside the Church and in the premises of Saint Joseph’s Diocesan School. But I am not sure if the Government will allow this celebration to happen. We will try to carry on with our plan,” Father José Ángel Hernández told O Clarim. “We will have a Mass at 7 PM and after the Eucharist we will have the procession. We will pray the rosary outside the Church and continue to the perimeter of the Diocesan School. The college’s facilities are directly connected to the Church and we will continue our prayer there,” the Mexican priest added.
The format adopted re-enacts the solution conceived one year ago. Before Covid-19 changed Macau and the world, the procession of Our Lady of Fatima took to the streets of Macau’s northernmost neighbourhood. The pandemic forced local Catholics to celebrate their faith with extra care, Father José Ángel Hernández claimed. “A few years ago, we used to have the procession on the streets around the church. Last year, due to the pandemic, we organized the procession within the perimeter of the Church and this year we are going to opt for the same solution, because we do not yet have authorization to carry out the procession outside. Given the current circumstances, if we asked the Government to carry out the procession outside, the Government would not authorize it, I think,” the missionary of the Society of the Divine Word told O Clarim. “Before the pandemic, what we did was, we used to send a letter to the Government to request the procession to be authorized and the Government not only authorized it, but also allocated police officers to control the traffic,” the parish priest of Our Lady of Fatima recalled.
Three days before the procession takes place, on October 10th the most eclectic parish in the Diocese of Macau receives the solemn visit of Bishop Stephen Lee: “The main celebration, our parish feast, takes place on October 10th, at 9:00 AM. The parish feast is always held on Sundays. On that day, we will have a Solemn Eucharist, with Bishop Stephen Lee presiding over it. The bishop will be with us that day, we have the Confirmation ceremony and later, in the evening we have a celebration with our parishioners. Our parishioners will join us for dinner. But now, with this new outbreak of Covid-19, we don’t know for sure,” Father José Ángel said.
An unprecedented event was originally scheduled for next Sunday, October 3rd, but the community outbreak that Macau is currently facing led to its postponement: “Before the parish feast, on October 3rd, we should have an activity, from 7 to 9 PM, with the four communities that attend the parish of Our Lady of Fatima. We provide spiritual guidance to parishioners from four different language communities: the Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesian and English-speaking communities,” the Mexican priest explained. “We decided to officially organize, for the first time, an activity so that the four communities can come together and be together as a family. It’s an opportunity for sharing. Prayer times are planned, we have games and recreational activities and we’ll eat together, as a community,” the missionary of the Congregation of the Divine Word told O Clarim.
LONG-LASTING IMPACT
The Parish of Our Lady of Fatima is probably the one in which the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has become more palpable, given the large number of people – especially non-resident workers – who have lost their jobs and their ability to survive. Since February last year, the parish has provided economic aid or food baskets to several hundred people. The Covid-19 pandemic has been affecting Macau for more than a year and a half and continues to be a major hindrance for many: “Last week, Father James distributed rice, especially among members of the Vietnamese community who lost their jobs. Currently, the most affected are those who used to work in restaurants and hotels and didn’t manage to find a new job yet. Before, there were many domestic workers in the same condition, but the perspectives for domestic workers changed already. Many have already found new jobs,” José Ángel Hernández stresses. “Those people who used to work in hotels and other institutions, the scenario is still quite difficult. The casinos hardly receive customers and the restaurants were also deeply affected and these people were dragged by these circumstances,” the Mexican priest added.Non-resident workers are among the main victims of the pandemic, but they are not the only ones feeling the heat. There are also single-parent families suffering with a scourge that has been dragging on for nearly two years, the parish priest of Our Lady of Fatima told O Clarim: “Last week, Father James helped about a hundred people, mainly Vietnamese. There are also some foreign families, African and Filipino families, and also from Mainland China, mainly single-parent families,” Father José Ángel added.
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