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Religion
Profiles tagged “Religion”.
10 profiles
Melchior Carneiro: the Jesuit bishop who founded the Holy House of Mercy in Macau
Melchior Carneiro
A Portuguese Jesuit and bishop, regarded as the first resident bishop in the Far East. He reached Macau in 1568 and the next year (1569) founded the Holy House of Mercy (Santa Casa da Misericórdia) — Macau's oldest charitable institution, still operating today, its house part of the World Heritage Historic Centre of Macau; he also founded a hospital for the poor and a leprosarium, laying the foundations of early medical and charitable care in Macau.
Alessandro Valignano: the Jesuit Visitor to the East Indies who made Macau a mission gateway and founded St. Paul's College
Alessandro Valignano
An Italian Jesuit and Visitor of the Society's missions in the East Indies. He reached Macau in 1578 and made the city his command centre for Jesuit work across Asia. In 1594 he founded St. Paul's College in Macau, regarded as one of the earliest Western-style colleges in East Asia. Macau's role as the gateway of the Catholic China mission is largely his doing. He died and was buried in Macau in 1606.
Michele Ruggieri: a pioneer of the China mission who began in Macau and co-authored the first Portuguese-Chinese dictionary
Michele Ruggieri
An Italian Jesuit who arrived in Macau in 1579 to study Chinese language and customs, regarded as among the pioneers of the Jesuit China mission. With Matteo Ricci he co-authored the first Portuguese-Chinese dictionary, and at Zhaoqing he printed the first book written in Chinese by a European. His path into China began in Macau, an early testament to the city's role as a mission gateway.
Matteo Ricci: the Jesuit who entered China by way of Macau in 1582
Matteo Ricci
An Italian Jesuit who reached Macau in August 1582, studied Chinese language and customs there, and entered mainland China from 1583. His scholarly and missionary achievements — and his fame — belong mainly to the mainland (Zhaoqing, Nanjing, Beijing). This archive frames his Macau link through the gateway of his entry into China. He died in Beijing in 1610.
João Rodrigues "Tçuzu": the Jesuit interpreter who wrote the first grammar of Japanese and spent his last years in Macau
João Rodrigues
A Portuguese Jesuit, interpreter and linguist, nicknamed "Tçuzu" (the Interpreter) for his command of Japanese. He compiled the first printed grammar of the Japanese language, a milestone of early East-West linguistics. After leaving Japan in 1610 he lived in Macau for over twenty years, teaching at St Paul's College and taking part in Sino-Portuguese diplomacy, and died and was buried in Macau.
Robert Morrison: the first Protestant missionary to China, who compiled the first Chinese-English dictionary and the first Chinese Bible — and lies buried in Macau
Robert Morrison
An England-born missionary and sinologist sent by the London Missionary Society, who arrived in Macau in 1807 as the first Protestant missionary to China. Working from Macau and Canton, he single-handedly compiled the first Chinese-English dictionary, made the first complete translation of the Bible into Chinese, and served as a translator for the East India Company. He died in Canton in 1834 and is buried in the Old Protestant Cemetery in Macau.
Karl Gützlaff: the Prussian missionary based in Macau and the first Lutheran missionary to China
Karl Gützlaff
A Prussia-born Protestant missionary and sinologist, known in Chinese as Guo Shili (later Guo Shila). Among the most active missionaries in China after Robert Morrison, he was based in Macau from 1831 for mission work, translation and Chinese-language publishing; his wife ran a school and a home for blind children in Macau. Multilingual and a sometime interpreter for the British, his life spanned religion, language and early modern Sino-Western relations.
Domingos Lam: the first Chinese bishop of the Diocese of Macau, who led the see across the 1999 handover
Domingos Lam Ka Tseung
The first Chinese-born bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau. Appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Macau in 1987, he succeeded the last Portuguese bishop, Arquimínio Rodrigues da Costa, in October 1988 and retired in 2003. He led the diocese for fifteen years, including across the 1999 transition of Macau from Portuguese to Chinese administration. He died in 2009, aged 81.
José Lai Hung-seng: the first Macau-born Bishop of Macau (2003–2016)
José Lai Hung-seng
Bishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau and the first bishop of the diocese born in Macau. Ordained a priest in Macau in 1972. He became Bishop of Macau on 30 June 2003, succeeding the retiring Bishop Domingos Lam, and in 2016 resigned for health reasons with the acceptance of Pope Francis, succeeded by Bishop Stephen Lee. This archive cites public record only.
Stephen Lee Bun-sang: Bishop of Macau since 2016
Stephen Lee Bun-sang
The current Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau, in office since 2016. Born in Hong Kong, he is a numerary of Opus Dei. Ordained a priest in 1988, he became Auxiliary Bishop of Hong Kong in 2014. In January 2016 Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of Macau, and he was installed on 23 January that year during a Mass marking the 440th anniversary of the diocese. This archive cites public record only.