He was arrested a year ago under the local national security law imposed by Beijing, modelled on Hong Kong’s, on charges of “subversion”. The former primary school teacher was a member of the Legislative Assembly since the times of Portuguese rule and has called for free elections for the post of chief executive, judicial independence, and administrative transparency.
In the year that Macao celebrates the 450th anniversary of the founding of its diocese, the local Catholic university is offering an in-depth course on the most significant issues in the history of modern evangelisation in the East. This is a stimulating initiative on a campus that actively promotes creative dialogue between Chinese and European traditions in the fields of culture and science.
Only 53 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballot in the former Portuguese colony, despite shuttles carrying casino workers to vote at the urging of local government leader Sam Hou-fai. In July, 12 candidates were barred, and a former lawmaker arrested on "national security" grounds under legislation imposed by Beijing. Even among those who did vote, many returned a blank or spoilt ballot paper.
The authorities in the former Portuguese colony have arrested Au Kam San on charges of collusion with foreign entities under Article 13 of Macau’s national security law. According to police, the former lawmaker provided “false and seditious information” to anti-China groups after 2022. The arrest comes amid growing repression in the territory. In May 2023, the local security law was toughened, while 12 candidates, including an incumbent lawmaker, were disqualified for the upcoming September legislative elections.
The pontiff's death has a special echo in the special autonomous region where Catholicism is deeply rooted. His call to be “a poor Church for the poor” prompted local Catholics to develop services for migrant workers and the elderly. The agreement with Beijing on episcopal appointments was “a step toward greater progress in evangelisation”.
The Chinese president is on a three-day visit to the former Portuguese colony 25 years after its return to Chinese sovereignty, providing him with an opportunity to send messages to Hong Kong as well, and stress the potential of the Greater Bay Area. The stop on Hengqin Island is significant, since it is slated to help Macau diversify its economy centred on casinos and gambling (source of 80 per cent of local tax revenue).
A judge for 25 years, he is the first top leader from mainland China and not from local business families. As the only candidate, he was chosen yesterday with 394 votes out of 398 by the local election committee. Beijing has long urged Macau to develop sectors other than gambling, a challenge that Hou Fai will have to face.
67-year-old Ho Iat Seng has announced that for health reasons he will not run again. On October 13, the 400 members of the Election Committee will choose a strictly patriotic successor. Meanwhile, the resumption of casinos has started to boost revenue again in the former Portuguese colony, since 1999 a Special Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, like Hong Kong.
The debate at the event promoted at the University of St Joseph on the occasion of the centenary of the Council of Shanghai. Leopold Leeb: In many Chinese there is interest in the newness of the Gospel and this is the precondition for any inculturation. The decisive role of the "sensum fidelium" of Chinese Catholic families in keeping the faith alive in the years of persecution.
A hundred scholars from “greater China" met at the University of Saint Joseph to share thoughts from an ecclesial perspective. Archbishop Savio Hon praised the encounter with the local culture, which owes a lot to the work of Card Celso Costantini a century ago. Prof Wang Meixiu expressed concerns over today's restrictions on the access of children and minors to places of worship. She wonders whether the “number of Catholics is decreasing”.
About one hundred young people from Macau will participate in the world meeting with Pope Francis. The delegations of the diocesan youth pastoral ministries and of the Portuguese-speaking parishes at the sanctuary of the apparitions, deeply linked due to the history of the former Lusitanian colony that returned to China in 1999.
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