Fr. Alberto, during his studies in the Catholic University of America in Washington in the late 1960s and early '70s, had developed a friendship with Fr.Donald Reece. Fr. Reece even traveled to Cordoba in Argentina to attend the Ordination of Alberto in August 1971.
The Years passed by and the friends parted ways, but their friendship, down the decades grew stronger. Fr. Reece went on to become the Archbishop of Kingston, Jamaica while Alberto was busy with his Publishing ministry in East Asia. At the age of 81, Archbishop Emeritus Donlad Reece decided to make the long journey to the East to meet his old friend in Macau, China. He was in Macau and China during the second half of August.
During the same time, another group of Missionaries also landed in Macau for having a first-hand experience of the Church in East Asia. The Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy was founded in 1218 and is an international community of priests and brothers, who live a life of prayer and communal fraternity based on the Rule of Saint Augustine and the Constitutions of the Order.
Fr. Paul Ordoñe , Superior General of the Order of Mercy, accompanied by three other companions from Brazil, Mexico and Italy were happy to follow the Archbishop and Alberto to the mainland where they had a feel of the richness of the Chinese Culture and traditions and of the life of the Church in this part of the world.
Mercedarians commit to a fourth vow, Added to traditional three vows of poverty, obedience and chastity, Mercedarians commit to a fourth vow, "to free those weaker in the faith, when their life threatened on account of their faith. His motto was: "My life for your freedom."
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| Archbishop Emeritus Donald Reece (left) with Fr. Alberto Rossa at the Great Wall in Beijing |
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| With Bishop Jose Lai, Bishop of Macau |
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| Archbishop Donald Reece (left) with Fr. John Ledesma SDB (second from right) and priests from the Community of Order of Mercy , in Beijing |
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| Fr. Alberto and Archbishop Donald with the Mercedarians |
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| Coat of Arms of the Mercedarians |
Shared mission to:
during their visit to China for 10 days, they walked important places, talked with Chinese friends and new contacts were established with a view to mutual assistance in the context of our mission. The experiences were many and memories abound. Here we share some pictures, first with the Archbishop Donald.
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Archbishop Donald with Alberto in the Macau Tower.
The sign says: " Everyday Do something that reminds you that you're still alive."
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| With Fr. Jojo, in the parish of St. Lawrence |
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| With Sister Catherine, in the Trappist monastery in Macau |
And in mainland China:
The publishing house "Faith Press" is authorized to publish religious books in China. Claretian Publications work with them to printing and distribution of books in mainland China. In the picture we are with the directors.
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| At the Faith Press, China |
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| We witnessed an intense Christian life within China. In this Mass there were more than 1000 people, 40 priests concelebrating and many religious - 5 of them made their profession that Sunday |
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| Vocation to the consecrated life - a hundred religious |
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| This community is blessed with plenty of children everywhere ... |
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| Sunday in another county chapel in the mainland. At 5:30 in the morning the church was full for the Mass at 6:00 pm |
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| The parishes of this area hold summer camps for children for three weeks. This parish gathered more than 300 children. Helping the pastor is a group of parents and mothers to instill a solid human and religious formation. We have seen similar scenes in other parishes |
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| With the Bishop and priests in Beijing |
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You can not come to China without visiting the Great Wall.
Archbishop Donald would not care about his 81 years!
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| In the cathedral in Beijing we find a group of Korean pilgrims ... |
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| We were welcomed by the Archbishop of Beijing, Msgr. Joseph Li Shan and we presented him some of our publications in Chinese |
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