MACAU Catholic University lays foundation for new campus

Macau chief executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah and Bishop Jose Lai Hung-seng have laid the foundation stone for a new Catholic university campus in Macau on 15 December 2009.

The newly named University of Saint Joseph campus shares the site with the senior secondary section of Saint Joseph Diocesan College, and Church authorities hope to create a "one-stop" Church educational service. The university changed its name from Macau Inter-University Institute (IIUM) to University of Saint Joseph this month. "With the new name, it will give the public a clear message that it is a Church-run tertiary educational institute," said Bishop Lai.

Bishop Jose Lai Hung-seng of Macau (fourth from left)

shares a stage with Macau chief executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah

(center) and other dignitaries at the foundation laying ceremony

Bishop Lai opined that he hopes the new name and new campus would lay the basis for the development of Catholic education in the territory. Through the new venture, the Church hopes that more people will "get to know Jesus Christ and the values of the Gospel". Pastoral service and evangelization are the two most important missions of the Church, the bishop said.

The new campus is at Ilha Verde in the northern part of the Macau peninsula. It covers an area of 1.5 hectares owned by the diocese and is expected to be completed by 2011. It can take in as many as 2,200 students for the university and 800 students for the diocesan college. Bishop Lai has also lobbied the Chinese government's State Administration for Religious Affairs to allow the enrollment of nuns and priests from mainland China. - Courtesy: UCA News