In the 1960s, a neglected leper colony existed on the remote island of Coloane in Macau, where residents lived in despair and isolation from society. Many lost hope and tragically ended their lives by jumping off nearby cliffs. In August 1963, Fr Gaetano Nicosia, a Salesian missionary, volunteered to live among them. His arrival marked the beginning of an extraordinary transformation for the community.
A Promise Made in Childhood
Born in Sicily on 3 March 1915, Gaetano lost his father in the First World War before he was old enough to remember him. Raised by his widowed mother, he learned generosity early in life, often sharing his meagre breakfast with beggars he met on the way to school. This was what he wrote in his diary: “One of the greatest graces that the Lord gave me from my childhood was to have the opportunity to frequent the Oratory run by the clerics from the neighbouring formation house every Sunday. I began attending school when I was six, which was about a half-hour walk from my home.”
At eleven, Gaetano entered a Salesian boarding school, where homesickness helped him understand the suffering of young people far from home. While reading Gioventù Missionaria, (a missionary magazine for youth) he saw a photograph of a man with Hansen’s disease. At first, he recoiled, but then compassion overcame fear. Looking at the picture, he quietly promised: “One day I will serve you.” That childhood promise would shape the rest of his life.
A Missionary to China
Feeling called to the missions; Gaetano was admitted to the Salesian Missionary Seminary at Gaeta and made his religious profession in 1935. Although three young Salesians were assigned to China, only he eventually departed. Ordained in Macau in 1946, he later expressed a desire to work among people with Hansen’s disease. Instead of Colombia, where the Salesians already had a settlement, the superiors directed him to the leper colony at Coloane.
The Angel of the Lepers
On 12 August 1963, Fr Nicosia arrived at the isolated settlement. Unlike most visitors, he ate with the residents, shook their hands without fear, and treated them as brothers and sisters. His simple gestures restored their dignity.
Together they adopted four guiding principles: replace the degrading name “leprosarium” with “Our Lady’s Village”; never call anyone a “leper” but rather “brother” or “sister”; affirm the equal dignity of every person; and help all who recovered to return to society.
The community gradually came alive. Faith was renewed, families regained hope, and those cured were reintegrated into society. Their children received a good education, many entered universities, and later generations lived healthy, productive lives free from the disease.
A Home for Rejected Children
Soon, Fr Nicosia began welcoming boys whom no one else would accept. What started with a handful of youngsters developed into a thriving Salesian family, eventually educating hundreds of children in a warm atmosphere marked by Don Bosco’s spirit. Similar provision was later made for girls from poor and broken homes.
Serving Beyond Macau
In 1980, Fr Nicosia learnt that in China, in Guangdong Province, there were many centres for people with leprosy; some of our people came from there – they had fled… After great difficulty, he obtained a visa; together with V.D.B. Josephine Cheung, we managed to visit the Ngai Sai leprosarium, founded by the Maryknoll Fathers, in San Wui District, following numerous permits from the civil and medical authorities, amongst others. They took a great deal of medicine with them. The doctors were delighted to have brought the medicines, and the patients were even happier, especially the Christians who had not seen a priest for 30 years. The trip went very well, and they promised to return. This is something we are still doing today with much greater freedom and without [the need for] permits from the authorities when we go there; we are always welcome. The other leprosarium was Tai Kam, a small island an hour’s motorboat ride away, extremely poor, also founded by the Maryknoll Fathers, with some 200 patients; today there are just over a hundred. Everyone was happy there too. The Salesians brought medicines there as well. This centre, once the most rundown of all, is now the best. Father Ruiz, SJ, renovated it, spending millions; a few years ago, he managed to bring in the Sisters of St Anne – at least four of them – who now live there, and the centre has been transformed. There are many Christians, both longstanding and new. Following that experience, Sophia, a nurse from Hong Kong, joined us.
A Legacy of Compassion
And now to what was happening at Coloane. Whilst visiting various centres in China, it was discovered that some still had healthy children. When these little ones are born, they are perfectly healthy. The disease is not hereditary, but by remaining in that place amongst their parents and other sufferers, sooner or later they would contract the same illness – an irreparable disaster, a miserable child in this world, a burden on society. With the approval of the civil authorities and the consent of the Provincial, and with substantial support – US $150,000 from Manos Unidas in Spain – three fine blocks were built in the town of Sek Tan, capable of accommodating at least 120 children. Thus, the Salesian Centre was established and inaugurated in 1992 in the presence of the authorities from Guangzhou and the local community. Everyone regards the centre with great respect.
Eight years after its establishment, Fr. Nicosia and his team were seeing the fruits of its labour: some of the first group from 1992 [1993] have completed their studies and can return to society safe and sound, well-educated, honest citizens; and if tomorrow, as they express, they receive the Baptism of Desire, they will be good Christians: this is the finest gift we can offer to our great China. As for the children who, for various reasons, were unable to remain at the centre after a certain time, Fr. Nicosia continued to support them by finding them a school or a job; they are always part of us, part of our family.
After Fr Nicosia – Tai Kam, Ngai Sai and others – had entered China with such great difficulty, in 1985 other religious began to visit these centres and, at the same time, their missions, their dioceses and their Christian communities. It was their duty—and indeed a source of particular joy—to exhort, encourage and assist all those who devoted their best energies to the benefit of those brothers of theirs, especially those who were once so alienated from humanity, yet always so close to the Lord, to Jesus, in whom they saw one of their own, and for that reason accepted him as soon as they came to know him. The Kingdom of Heaven is for everyone, but especially for them. With Him on the Cross, with Him in Glory. Post hoc: ‘miserere mei Deus qui nihil sum’.