Portuguese Missionaries and the Chinese Catholic Development in Macao (1560–Present)

The Catholic Church in Macao was established in 1560 by Portuguese missionaries under the Portuguese Padroado 1454. Macao Diocese, the first diocese in the Far East, was established in 1564. Early Portuguese missionary especially the bishops played a governance role in public administration to render political, medical, social, and educational services in this small place with a total area only 15 square miles and with the minority of the population were Portuguese and Europeans while the majority have been Chinese. The Macao Chinese Catholics in the nineteenth century had been developed into an enclosed community called Jinjiao Wei (進教圍) which will be discussed. Catholic life after the Second Vatican Council (1963–1965) challenged by political issues such as the December 3, 1966, Riot and the Macao went into Chinese rule in 1999 until today will be reviewed.