Macao. January 16, 2011. The Church celebrated World Day of Migrants and Refugees on Sunday January 16. The diocese of Macau invited all migrants in Macao to gather to pray for unity in diversity; the Mass was presided by Msgr. Jose Lai, bishop of Macao and 13 priests. Macau, a city with half a million people is hosts to migrants from many countries, races and cultures as these migrants have to care for local people as well as for almost 30 million visitors the city receives every year.
One of the main organizers was Claretian Fr. Jojo Ancheril. Together with the Catholic Pastoral Center they asked for support to feed more than 1300 people who gathered for a concelebrated Mass and later lunch and a cultural program that lasted several hours.
Local government official as well as authorities from different embassies participated in the event. Local TV media were present and interviewed Fr. Jojo who spoke in Cantonese and English.
A Maryknoll Sister who participated in the event wrote to us:
It was a pleasure meeting you at the Celebration of the Day of the Migrant. That surely was a joyous occasion enjoyed by all. We just watched the Macau News tonight, and we saw that they gave quite a bit of time to cover the activity. I was happy to see Fr. Jojo being interviewed in Cantonese for the Macau TV. You Claretians are already getting to be a wonderfully vibrant force here in the Macau Church. Something that is VERY much needed!
