MACAO (CWNews.com/Fides) - A year after the handover of the former Portuguese colony of Macao to Communist China, Catholics in the region report that while some things have changed, for good and for ill, other things remain the same, for good and for ill.
A Catholic source in Macao, sent a confidential report to Fides, reporting on the situation in the city. The city crest has changed-- two wings of doves have replaced those of angels-- but the gangsters in the casinos still reign undisturbed. The government proclaims success in the field of security, but the unemployed stage violent protest demonstrations. Beijing praises the efficiency of moderate leader Edmund Ho's administration, but among the people indifference and mistrust towards the government prevail. The local Catholic Church has sufficient religious freedom, but the laity is unable to influence the social, political field.
On December 20, 1999, after more than 440 years, Macao, the first European colony on the coast of China, returned to the mainland. The event was marked this year with a December 20 visit by Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Relations between Macao and the Beijing government appear to be rosy; on the eve of Jiang's arrival, China's Prime Minster Zhu Rongji voiced total support for the Ho administration, congratulating its steps forward in public security and in the economy.
But it is precisely in the economic field that the government of the former colony meets the most difficulty. «Violent protest demonstrations by workers and unemployed had not been seen since the years of the cultural revolution,» said a source. «The government tries to soothe souls, promising grants for the unemployed and new jobs. The situation also affects foreign workers, mostly Filipinos, who have to leave when their contract ends.»
«With its highs and lows the year which is coming to an end is one of transition for the people of Macao,» the source says. «There is still much to do in regional cooperation, development of industry, and social progress. The people, who showed scarce interest for politics under Portugal, continue to attend to their affairs with little confidence in the central government.»
The local Catholic Church also marked the first anniversary of the hand over. On December 19, Bishop Domingos Lam of Macao presided at a 20 minute thanksgiving prayer with the singing of the Te Deum. Although it was announced by the diocesan news office on December 17, only about a hundred attended the ceremony.
Regarding the local Church, the source says that «the situation of religious freedom has remained as it was. Worship and public prayers and processions are permitted, as under the former government.» However, some missionaries think that celebrations for China's martyrs, on October 1, were played down to please the Beijing authorities. «The Church exerts a great moral influence and is an authority in the field of education, and social and charitable work, but the laity fail to influence the social-political field,» the source said.
Macao has a population of 460,000, of whom about 30,000 are Catholics, the highest percentage on Chinese soil (6.5 percent). In a message to Bishop Lam on the occasion of the hand over last year, Pope John Paul II encouraged the diocese to strengthen its missionary vocation and become a reference point for Catholics there and on the mainland.
Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs
21. desember 2000