[Photo: Renato Marques]
The new building of the Catholic Center of Macao, soon to be inaugurated, will feature two permanent exhibitions focused on the 450 years since the establishment of the local Catholic Diocese, the Times has learned from Benedict Keith Ip, director of the Diocesan Office of Historical Archives and Patrimony.
According to information obtained, the first exhibition, titled “We Build the Future with an Eye to the Past,” will be on the first floor and will feature the Diocese’s work from its establishment in 1576 until 1999. As for the second one, located on the second floor and titled “Witness to the Heritage, Mission in the World,” it will focus on the last 26 years since the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region. It will feature the work being done by the Catholic Church today, providing a perspective that allows a better understanding of the work of the Diocese at present.
As explained to the Times, the two exhibitions are separate but complementary, with a note on the differences between the institution’s past and present.
As the Catholic Center of Macao also noted to the Times in a statement, the new building, located at the intersection of Rua da Praia Grande and Rua do Campo, is currently undergoing final government approval procedures and will hold its grand opening ceremony on June 12, 2026.
[Photo: Renato Marques]
The reconstruction project began on September 8, 2021, with Bishop Stephen Lee presiding over the groundbreaking ceremony.
The main structure reached the topping-out stage on May 22, 2025, at which time a blessing ceremony was also performed.
In the same statement, the Catholic Center noted that “despite the severe challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the sharp rise in global construction costs, the project overcame difficulties through faith and support from all sides, and was completed.”
The building comprises 17 floors, integrating hotel accommodations, dining facilities, lecture halls, conference rooms, exhibition spaces, and multi-purpose activity rooms.
The center noted that the new space will serve “travelers, pilgrims, and local residents alike, truly becoming a bridge between the Church and society” while embodying the Catholic Church’s pastoral mission of evangelization and serving people with the spirit of charity.
The Catholic Center site is managed by Centro Católico Management Ltd., with operations divided between “Macau Catholic Center (Association)” and “Catholic Center Hotel.”
As the Times also learned from sources familiar with the project, the second floor also contains a large auditorium that can host over 200 people for events, conferences, and large-scale talks.
On the third floor, there will be a chapel dedicated to the 12 apostles that features several stained-glass elements related to them.
On the fourth to sixth floors, there are several other support facilities and venues, including multifunctional rooms that can be used as dance or meeting rooms, among other uses.
One of the most significant pieces of the new building is located on the fifth floor, which will display a replica of the “Holy Shroud” (Shroud of Turin) as well as a detailed explanation of the associated miracle.
The Shroud of Turin is a length of linen cloth that bears a faint image of the front and back of a naked man. Because the image’s details are consistent with traditional depictions of Jesus of Nazareth after his death by crucifixion, the shroud has been venerated by Christians for centuries, especially by members of the Catholic Church, as Jesus’s shroud upon which his image was miraculously imprinted.
The human image on the shroud can be discerned more clearly in a black-and-white photographic negative than in its natural sepia color, an effect discovered in 1898 by Secondo Pia, who produced the first photographs of the shroud.
This negative image is associated with a popular Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus.
According to information provided to the Times, the replica of the relic to be displayed was produced in Milan (Italy) for the Macau Diocese.
Moving up to the sixth and seventh floors of the building, these will host mostly office spaces for several Diocesan services and departments, as well as the back office for the hotel that will occupy the eighth through the sixteenth floors of the building.
Last but not least, on the 17th floor, the building will feature a rooftop garden that overlooks the city in a green environment.
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