CATHOLIC bishops in Japan are calling for the return of relics
of 59 Japanese martyrs housed in Macao, ahead of the reversion
of the Portuguese port in south-east China to Beijing at the end
of the decade. But the relics, of missionaries and other
Catholics from Nagasaki, martyred in Japan in the 15th and 16th
centuries, have been mixed with the remains of martyrs from
elsewhere during their three centuries in the Portuguese colony
of Macao. Bishop Domingos Lam KaTseung of Macao expressed the
willingness of his diocese to consider the request made by the
Japanese bishops for the relics' return. But identifications
would have to be made first, he said. "Macao is only a temporary
shelter for the martyrs," the bishop stressed, although he hoped
that some of the bones would he left behind for local Catholics
to venerate. The transfer of the relics to Japan was first
mooted by Japan's Catholics eight years ago following concerns
surrounding Portugal's surrender of Macao to the Chinese
authorities in December 1999.