Religion in Macau
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Religion in Macau is represented predominantly by Buddhism and Chinese folk religions. During the period in which the city was under Portuguese rule (1557–1999) the Catholic Church became one of the dominant faiths, but nowadays it has greatly declined.
According to the 1991 census, the latest to collect religious data, 16.8% of the people of Macau identified as Buddhists, 6.7% as Catholics, and 61% followed other religions or none of them.[2] According to another survey released in 1999, 49% of the population followed folk worship, 11% were Buddhists, and only 3% Christians. Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of the population went to temples occasionally.[2] Another survey conducted between 2005, 2007 and 2009 has found that 30% of the population follows folk faiths, 10% are adherents of Buddhism or Taoism, 5% are Christians, and the remaining part do not declare religious adherence.[3] The Pew Research Center has reported the following statistics for the year 2011: 58.9% folk religions, 17.3% Buddhism, 15.4% non religious, 7.2% Christianity, 0.2% Islam and 1% other beliefs.[4]
The
Religious organizations can found religious colleges or other schools, hospitals and welfare organizations in accordance with the law. Schools operated by religious institutions can teach their religion. Religious organizations have the right to use, handle, inherit and obtain financial contributions in accordance with the law. Their right to wealth is protected by the law.
Chinese folk religion
The Chinese folk religion is the indigenous religion of the Han Chinese. Its focus is the worship of the Shen (神 "expressions", "Gods"), that are the generative powers of nature, also including, in the human sphere, ancestors and progenitors of families or lineages, and divine heroes that made a significant imprinting in the history of the Chinese civilisation.[citation needed]
In Macau, one of the most popular Deities is Mazu. The name "Macau" itself derives from a Portuguese version of the local name of a prominent Mazu temple (A-Ma Temple), Maa Gok 媽閣 (Jyutping: Maa1 Gok3, pinyin: Māgé).
Confucianism
The
On the
Taoism
Taoism was first introduced to Macau in the third century. Elements of it have since largely been practiced alongside Buddhism.[5]
Buddhism
Buddhism is the predominant religion in Macau as the cultural and historical backgrounds support or reflects Buddhism. Most of the people in Macau hold a great belief towards Buddhism, despite only practicing occasionally. Previous estimates have shown that Buddhism and folk religions together make 92% of the total population.[6]
Christianity
Catholicism
Catholicism is a lasting legacy of the Portuguese colonial control of Macau.
The Catholic Church in Macau is organized through the
Macau became a diocese of the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century, after the arrival of the Portuguese. At its foundation, the Diocese of Macau was given a wide jurisdiction over various ecclesiastical territories in the Far East, such as China, Japan, Vietnam and Malaysia (but not the Philippines). It became a major training and departure point for Catholic missionaries to different countries in Asia. To further strengthen this role, a college was founded in São Paulo in the sixteenth century, the first Western college in Asia for the training of missionaries. In the eighteenth century, the Seminary of St. Joseph was also established to train missionaries and priests.
According to the Pontifical Yearbook 2004, there were about 18,000 practicing Catholics in Macau in that year (representing about 4% of the total population), 24 secular priests, 52 religious priests (members of religious orders), 62 brothers and 183 sisters in the territory.
According to government statistics, Catholics in Macau, in 2005, numbered about 27,000 (about 5.6% of the total population) and most of them were members of the Chinese community, with some Portuguese, people of the Eurasian community with Portuguese descent and thousands of other foreigners, including many Filipinos. There has been a progressive decline in the use of the Portuguese language in the liturgy and increasingly, Mass and other sacraments are celebrated in other languages. For example, as of 2019, Mass is celebrated 30 times every Sunday in Macau: 16 times in Cantonese, 7 times in English, 4 times in Portuguese, 2 times in Mandarin and 1 time in Vietnamese.[7] Recent government surveys have indicated that Catholicism is declining among Macau's population.[8]
Although the Catholic Church is not the predominant religion in Macau, it continues to influence and engage in areas such as social work and education. The Diocese of Macau has six parishes and 24 social institutions, made up of eight daycare centres, six nursing homes for the elderly, five rehabilitation centres for the mentally and physically disabled and five children's homes. In the field of education, in the 2004/2005 school year, the Catholic Church taught in 31 schools, to over 36,000 students and over the years, a large number of influential non-Christians have received a
Among the important annual events are Procession of the Bom Jesus dos Passos in Macau , the Good Friday procession and the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima procession.
Protestantism
In 1807,
When the Victoria Diocese of the
Today there are about 4,000 practicing Protestants in Macau with an average of just 50 people participating and worshipping in services at each church. Many churches in Macau were founded by different communities from Hong Kong and other countries, representing the
Due to pressure in the past from the Portuguese colonial government and the Roman Catholic Church, Protestant churches were allowed to do only limited social, pastoral and educational work. They were also limited by poor funding and many Protestant schools were closed after the 12-3 incident, which reduced even further the role of the Protestant churches in education in Macau. There are only seven remaining Protestant primary and secondary schools in Macau. There are, however, some rehabilitation programmes run by Protestant organisations that receive government support. A Protestant counselling service was started by the Macau Chinese Christian Mission in 2005. Missionaries are free to conduct missionary activities and are active in Macau.
Jehovah's Witnesses
The first Jehovah's witnesses activities in the territory where in the 1960s when foreign witnesses from Portugal and Hong Kong arrived to the island.[9][10][11]
Because the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses was banned in Portugal at that time, the Macao police arrested and deported some of the foreign Jehovah's witnesses during the '60s.[12]
In 2020, the number of
Other religions
Islam
In 2007, Macau had one mosque and Muslim cemetery, the Macau Mosque and Cemetery, to serve the city's more than four hundred Muslims that associate under the name of "The Macau Islamic Society". This mosque was under renovation in the late months of 2007 and planned to double in size in order to provide a more modern mosque in the heart of Macau. Both Muslims and Roman Catholics sometimes choose to name one of their children Fatima, Omar or Soraya.
Baháʼí
Macau was one of the areas chosen for the
Falun Gong
Falun Gong practitioners exist in public.[15][16]
See also
- Kau chim & Jiaobei
- Heterodox teachings (Chinese law)
- Religion in China
- Religion in Hong Kong
- Religion in Taiwan
- Religion in Tibet
References
- ^ The ARDA website, retrieved 2032-08-28
- ^ a b Zhidong Hao, 2011. pp. 121–122.
- ^ Zheng, VWT; Wan, PS. Religious beliefs and life experiences of Macao's residents 澳門居民的宗教信仰與生活經驗. On: Modern China Studies by Center for Modern China, 2010, v. 17 n. 4, p. 91-126. ISSN 2160-0295. «Drawing on empirical data obtained from three consecutive territory-wide household surveys conducted in 2005, 2007, and 2009 respectively, this paper attempts to shed light on the current religious profile of Macao residents.»
- ^ Pew's Religious Composition by Country Archived 2016-03-10 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Traditional Belief in Macau". Archived from the original on 2013-06-15. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
- ^ "US State Dept 2012". Archived from the original on 22 January 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
- ^ "Mass Schedules – 天主教澳門教區 · DIOCESE DE MACAU". Archived from the original on 2019-03-02. Retrieved 2019-03-01.
- ^ "Religion in Macau – Freedom of Religion and Belief – China culture". Archived from the original on 2012-11-04. Retrieved 2013-03-27.
- ^ "Portugal — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY". Archived from the original on 2018-11-12. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
- ^ "China, Hong Kong, and Macao — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY". Archived from the original on 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
- ^ "Macao—A Record of Endurance — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY". Archived from the original on 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
- ^ "Macao—A Record of Endurance — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY". Archived from the original on 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
- ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses—2020 Country and Territory Reports". Archived from the original on 2020-12-22.
- ^ "Find a Meeting". Archived from the original on 2022-03-27. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
- ^ Bruning, Harald. "Falun Gong finds few friends in bastion of patriotism". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^ "Macau: Tourists Learn about Falun Dafa During Chinese New Year". Ming Hui. Archived from the original on 27 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
Sources
- Zhidong Hao. Macau History and Society. Hong Kong University Press, 2011. ISBN 9888028545