Caritas Macau is the charity outreach of the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Diocese of Macau The Diocese of Macau (; ) is a Latin Church exempt ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church, in contrast with the Diocese of Hong Kong, which is, ''de jure'', part of the Ecclesiastical Province of Guangdong. The territory o ...

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It began in 1951 as an outgrowth of the charitable works of Luis Ruiz Suarez SJ, and his Casa Ricci Social Services.

Origin

In 1971 the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

Luis Ruiz Suarez enlisted the support of Caritas Macau, with help from

Caritas International Caritas Internationalis (Latin for ) is a confederation of 162 national Catholic relief, development, and social service organisations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. The name Caritas Internationalis refers to both the ...

, to take Ricci Center for Social Services under its umbrella. while he continued to extend the outreach of both. Casa Ricci Social Services became an independent division of Caritas.

New works

The efforts of the Casa Ricci division remained focused on work among lepers and then AIDS victims throughout China, while Caritas Macau began increasing programs in Macau, founding Family Casework & Assistance Service, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Home for the Elderly, and St. Luis Gonzaga Center for the Disabled. In 1977 Caritas founded Macau's first social work institute to train social workers. Also in the 1970s it founded Caritas Women Centre, the Brito School, a driving course for the physically handicapped, and Life Hope Hot Line. Caritas Macau took over management of the Canossian Sisters' St. Francis Xavier Home for the Elderly and opened day care facilities for the elderly in Largo de S. Agostinho,

Ilha Verde Ilha Verde, also known by its Cantonese name Cing-zau and Mandarin name Qingzhou, is an area in the northwest of Macau Peninsula, Macau, that forms part of the Our Lady Fatima Parish. It is a former island—known in English as Verde or Gre ...

, and

Taipa Taipa ( zh, t=氹仔, ; , ) is an area in Macau, connected to Coloane through the area known as Cotai, which is largely built from reclaimed land. Located on the northern half of the island, Taipa's population is mostly suburban. Administrativ ...

Island. It began managing St. Lucia Centre and St. Margaret Centre for the handicapped, and founded a school for those with mental disabilities.

Increased structure

The 1980s had seen rapid urbanization in Macau. In the 1990s, the administrative structure of Caritas Macau was enhanced. Fr. Ruiz remained superintendent and received the help of a secretary general, general assembly, supervisory board, executive committee, and consultants. Services to diverse groups continued: the homeless, ex-prisoners, youth, the elderly, and kindergarten and nursery schools. An economic crisis in 1997 and massive unemployment led the Macau Social Welfare Bureau to enlist the help of Caritas Macau along with three other NGOs in a Community Employment Assistance Programme in the mid-2000s. In 2005 Caritas opened a performing arts program for young people, Teatro Clementina Leitão Ho Brito, to enhance their spiritual and cultural values. In 2007 the care home Rising Sun Areia Preta was opened for people with physical disabilities. In 2009 the large Centro de Santa Margarida was opened in the village of Cheok Ka,

, to consolidate other services and assist in training rehabilitation caregivers. And Hip Lek began transporting the disabled, especially those in wheelchairs, between Macau and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. In 2010 Mother Mary Social Studies Center was opened for research and action in the field of social work. A refugee welfare service followed in 2011, and a food bank opened the same year. Also in 2011 the day center Brilho da Vida opened, to enrich the lives of the elderly and to increase their independent living capability. It provides the elderly and infirm with housework assistance and 24/7 emergency support. In 2012 this program was expanded with the Macau Foundation Project for the homebound elderly. Other programs reach out to single parents and their children. In 2013 the Philippine Consulate in Macau and Caritas-Macau signed a memorandum of agreement to jointly assist overseas Filipino workers to integrate into their work environment and Macau society. Caritas Macau had grown to include 34 centres spread throughout Macau, the most densely populated region in the world. Its food bank had 2,200 families who drew support from it as needed, about 1% of all families in Macau. Caritas is regarded as the number one non-profit service association in Macau and a popular charity. The focus of Caritas Macau is the densely populated city. Casa Ricci Social Services has rather as its focus all of China, and beyond. At Ricci's death in 2011, the independently chartered Ricci Social Service Foundation, which runs Casa Ricci Social Services, was running 50 programs distributed in 13 provinces of China with 64

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

centers for a total of 4,000 patients and 5

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

homes with a total of 300 HIV-positive mothers and other adults. It was also caring for 1500 students from poor families.

References

{{Authority control Jesuit development centres Non-profit organizations based in Macau Catholic Church in Macau Organizations established in 1971 Homelessness charities Poverty-related organizations Christian refugee aid organizations Refugee aid organizations 1971 establishments in the Portuguese Empire