Welcome to the Macau - China Bulletin, August 2011

Macau bids farewell to the ‘Father of the Poor’

Father Luis Ruiz Suarez, who dedicated his entire life to needy people in Macau and mainland China, died on 26 July 2011 at the age of 97. The Spanish Jesuit, whose Cantonese name was “Luk Ngai,” was the founder of Caritas Macau.

Paul Pun Chi-meng, secretary general of Caritas Macau, remembered Father Ruiz’s selfless service, saying that “He was a pragmatic man. He never spread the Gospel with words, but I saw Jesus whenever I saw him.”

Father Ruiz, SJ seen with Fr. Tom Peyton, MM [extreme right]
in one of the Leprosy Treatment centers in China

The obituary prepared by Caritas honored his lifelong contribution while urging people from all walks of life to emulate his spirit to serve the needy in the community.

Born in 1913, Father Ruiz joined the Jesuits in 1930. His missionary work in China began in 1941. It was interrupted by the Second Sino-Japanese War, and resumed after the war ended in 1945. When the Communists took control of China in 1949, he was imprisoned briefly and expelled from the country.

He was told by his Jesuit provincial to stay in Macau, at the time a Portuguese colony, to recover from typhoid, which he contracted in prison, but within a month he was already working with refugees.

This picture with Father Ruiz was taken
on 29 June this year, at the Centenary Year
Celebrations of the Maryknolls in Stanly, Hong Kong

Later he founded the Casa Ricci Social Service in Macau. It was later turned into Caritas Macau, which he began to operate in the 1970s and established five centers for the aged and for young men and women with mental disabilities.

He also enlisted the Sisters of Charity of St. Anne to help caring for the people with leprosy. He began his service for people with leprosy in neighboring Guangdong province in 1984. Ten years later, this service had grown so much that he handed the Caritas operation back to Macau diocese.

He had helped more than 8,000 patients and their children in about 140 leprosaria in various Chinese provinces. In 2005, Father Luis, in his 90s, accepted invitation from the Hunan provincial government to set up a caring center for HIV/AIDS patients.

- UCA News

The Following clipping is the first part of the Video "Source of Joy...story of Fr. Luis Ruiz of Macao" availbale in the Youtube

The Vatican's new blog for China: "Being Catholic in China"

The Vatican, through the Fides news agency, has started a blog aimed at Chinese Catholics, hoping to provide a space for information, dialogue, exchange and educational material, said reports on Fides and the Vatican Insider.

The Being Catholic in China blog was created in “order to facilitate an exchange between the brothers and sisters of the Roman Catholic Church in China”, its subheading states.

The first issue discussed in both Chinese and English, regards the latest illegal Episcopal ordination, meaning without a papal mandate, approved by Beijing’s authorities, the Vatican Insider states. This blog will also be an instrument of unity of the Church in China with all the Churches in the world and the Universal Church, according to Fides.

Faith Press, China, is 20 years old!

Faith Press, the largest Catholic publishing house in China, is celebrating 20 years of service to the Church in China. In addition to publishing books, the Faith Press has a newspaper, with a circulation of 60,000 copies every ten days and reaches all corners of the country.

The Claretian Publications' editorial work in China is connected to the Faith Press. "The Daily Gospel 2012", published in Chinese is published in China in association with the Faith Press. The book, prepared by our Chinese editorial team, is distributed throughout China by Faith Press. This year 55,000 copies have been printed for distribution within China. In addition, there have been special editions for Chinese living in other countries.

To the Summit!

During this summer vacation, our Chinese editors visited Hua-Shan (Flowery mountain), one of the most scenic mountains in 陝西 Shǎnxī, China. It’s breath-taking for the grandeur mountain ranges floating in the clouds like a great lotus and the tourists cannot resist but to climb up to the highest summit of 2160m (The South-Mount).

Shǎnxī, in China

On the way to the mountain is a village where there are Catholics for the past 300 years. These are simple people who have maintained their faith in the midst of immense difficulties. With great effort they managed to build a Church and now they have a priest who accompanies them. People are very poor and it is common for children to leave school to help in the field.

With the help of the pastor and the help from scholarships the village is giving importance to giving education to its children. They are ecstatic that for the first time they manage to give collegiate education for eight of its students this year. These guys told us that their secret is discipline and good example and with the help they receive from the priest, they mature in their faith.

To enjoy the scenery up the mountain of Hua-Shan takes 4 hours of hazardous trekking! These young people need lots of love, support, opportunities (and "discipline" ... as they say), to climb the mountain of their lives. They are the 'rock' upon which the Church is built.

To assist in their training, we will install in this village a "parish library." Click here to know more about the "Parish Library" Project

In the (Middle) Kingdom of God

The editors of US Catholic magazine interview
Claretian Fr. Francisco Carin in their August issue.

Please click the picture to enlarge and read.

Mission partners

We are also privileged to have Frs. José Ornelas Carvalho, Superior General and P. Aquilino Mielgo, General Treasurer of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (Dehonians) as our Mission partners. China is a magnet for missionaries as we look forward to take the Good News to the remotest frontiers.

Our Chinese Team

Fr. John Miao

Our collaborators are scattered in several countries.
We comunícate via Internet. Today we present to you one of them,
Fr. John Miao, who visited us recently.

Our Special Guest!

Mr. Chunnong Li is our main contact in the Amity Printing (Nanjing, China). It is 12 years since we are aassociated with Mr. Li. He is a man of professionalism coupled with great friendship. We consider him "part of our family". Mr. Chunnong Li [in the middle] with Fr. Rossa and Divine

Mr. Li handles all our work in print - this year we have already printed more than half a million books in Amity. We maintain direct communication day in and day out, and indeed members of the "family" are always such!