Trappist nuns from Indonesia are preparing to set up their community in Macau, a development Bishop Jose Lai Hung-seng of Macau believes would benefit residents of a city famed for its casinos.

“Their presence could help introduce the contemplative life to local people, who are living too materialistic a lifestyle,” he said.

The prelate added that the nuns, who keep silent for most of the day as part of monastic practice, are still awaiting government approval for land on which to build a monastery.

The nuns plan for their building to be constructed near the Diocesan Convention Center on Coloane Island.

One Italian and three Indonesian nuns from the Gedono community in Central Java, Indonesia, arrived in Macau last June to learn Cantonese, the local dialect. They are presently housed at Our Lady of Penha Chapel.

Abbess Martha Driscoll of Gedono told UCA News via email that they are happy to establish a house in the “first Catholic diocese of Asia” and the Coloane site is situated amid natural surroundings where guests can have “contact with the beauty of creation.”

A few more nuns from the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance (OCSO), as the Trappists are formally known, are expected to join the group later.

Trappist abbot Dom Anastasius Li in Hong Kong told UCA News the nuns chose Macau as there are no monastic communities here. “They also have a heart for China and want to pray for the country,” he added.

Source: Trappist nuns to set up in Macau

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