The Catholic Church in Macau is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. The history of Catholic church in Macau can traced back to 1576 under the leadership of the Pope. Catholic church in Macau was built not only with the purpose of prayers and atonement but also as rally point for Portuguese to gather up and act as a midway for missionaries going to deeper part of China and south east Asia. The Catholic church within Macau has played an important role on the spread of Catholicism in Japan, Vietnam and China and other parts of south east Asia. The Catholic church in Macau has provided schooling, missionary training and preaching the gospel to the local catholic and non-catholic communities. There are around 30,000 Catholics in Macau (around 5% of the total population), which forms a single diocese, the Diocese of Macau. The current bishop of Macau is Stephen Lee Bun-sang (since 2016). History The Macau Diocese was established in 1576 by Pope Gregory XIII, one of the first diocese created in south East Asia. The earliest diocese in south East Asia, the diocese of Beijing was established in mainland China in the Yuan dynasty in 1307 under the order of Pope Clement V. Then, in 1313, Quanzhou Diocese was established. Despite the vigor of the two dioceses, the work in mainland China has unfortunately stalled due to the lack of missionaries. In early years, the Macau Diocese was the head diocese for major parts of south East Asia, including China, Korea, Japan, Northern Vietnam, and all the islands around South East Asia. Since the establishment of the Macao Diocese, the saints of the Macao Diocese are St. Catherine and St. Francis Xavier of Siena, showing the missionary characteristics of the area In addition to spreading the gospel, the diocese is also responsible for scientific exchanges and research. According to the knowledge and virtue of the papal motto, there is also the responsibility to promote Catholic morality. In addition to the Jesuits, many others established their own institutions in Macau between the 16th and 17th centuries, such as the Franciscans, Augustus, Dominicans, and Sister St. Clair. From the outset, the parish had to obey the appointed colonial leader- the Portuguese Padroado that led to the government over interference in religious affairs and often created friction between the parish and the Portuguese