{"id":28366,"date":"2026-01-19T16:32:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T00:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/?p=28366"},"modified":"2026-01-20T16:39:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T00:39:16","slug":"opening-of-the-diocesan-phase-of-the-cause-for-the-beatification-of-fr-gaetano-nicosia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/2026\/01\/19\/opening-of-the-diocesan-phase-of-the-cause-for-the-beatification-of-fr-gaetano-nicosia\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening of the Diocesan Phase of the Cause for the Beatification of Fr. Gaetano Nicosia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>(ANS \u2013 Macao)<\/strong> \u2013 El <strong>January 17, 2026<\/strong>, the Church of Macao experienced a day filled with memory, gratitude, and hope with the official opening of the diocesan inquiry into the <strong>Cause for the Beatification and Canonization<\/strong> of the Servant of God <strong>Gaetano Nicosia<\/strong>, a Salesian missionary who dedicated his life to the service of those afflicted with Hansen\u2019s disease, whom he lovingly called, with deep faith and tenderness, \u201cbrothers and sisters of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The day began at <strong>3:00 p.m.<\/strong> with the celebration of Holy Mass at the <strong>Church of Nossa Senhora<\/strong>, located in the historic site of Ka Ho, a place closely linked to the mission and witness of Fr. Gaetano. The Eucharistic celebration was presided over by the Bishop of Macao, <strong>Bishop Stephen Lee Bun Sang<\/strong>, and concelebrated by about forty priests, including the Provincial, <strong>Fr. Domingos Leong<\/strong>, Salesians from the communities of Macao and Hong Kong, diocesan priests, and religious from other congregations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>Daughters of Mary Help of Christians<\/strong>, along with numerous members of the Salesian Family, were also present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ka Ho chapel was filled to capacity with the faithful, many of whom had known Fr. Gaetano personally: former students, former patients suffering from Hansen\u2019s disease, collaborators, and others who had experienced his closeness, his words, and his tireless service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During his homily, Fr. Domingos Leong emphasized the deep connection between the vocation of <strong>Fr. Gaetano Nicosia<\/strong> and that of <strong>Blessed Louis Variara<\/strong>, noting how both interpreted human suffering as a call from God to the total gift of self. He highlighted Fr. Gaetano\u2019s unwavering commitment to promoting the dignity of every person, his tireless efforts to foster reconciliation and peace, and his ability to create communion where exclusion and marginalization had prevailed for many years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the conclusion of the Eucharistic celebration, the <strong>Opening Session of the diocesan phase<\/strong> took place\u2014an ecclesial and juridical act by which the Diocese of Macao officially began the inquiry into the life, heroic virtues, reputation for holiness, and signs attributed to the Servant of God Gaetano Nicosia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the session, the members of the Diocesan Tribunal and the Vice Postulator, <strong>Fr. Gabriel Cruz<\/strong>, took the required oath. In his address, the Bishop of Macao invited all those present to look to the life of Fr. Gaetano Nicosia as a concrete model of Christian living, encouraging them to follow his example of simple charity and to entrust themselves with confidence to the maternal care of Mary, whom the Salesian missionary always regarded as his guide and support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Born in Sicily, in <strong>San Giovanni La Punta (Catania)<\/strong>, on <strong>April 3, 1915<\/strong>, and having died in <strong>Hong Kong<\/strong> at the age of <strong>102<\/strong> el <strong>November 6, 2017<\/strong>, the Servant of God <strong>Fr. Gaetano Nicosia<\/strong> lived more than eighty years of consecrated life. His legacy remains alive in Macao, Hong Kong, mainland China, and Italy\u2014not merely as a memory, but as an ongoing call to live the Gospel through closeness, dignity, and hope. With the opening of this diocesan phase, the Church now begins a journey of confident discernment, asking that the example of this humble servant may continue to inspire those who seek to make Christian love a way of life, while invoking his intercession with trust.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(ANS \u2013 Macao) \u2013 On January 17, 2026, the Church of Macao experienced a day filled with memory, gratitude, and hope with the official opening of the diocesan inquiry into the Cause for the Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God Gaetano Nicosia, a Salesian missionary who dedicated his life to the service of those afflicted with Hansen\u2019s disease, whom he lovingly called, with &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/2026\/01\/19\/opening-of-the-diocesan-phase-of-the-cause-for-the-beatification-of-fr-gaetano-nicosia\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continuar leyendo <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Opening of the Diocesan Phase of the Cause for the Beatification of Fr. Gaetano Nicosia<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":10336596,"featured_media":28369,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[775865498,516714022],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-salesian-holiness","category-salesian-world-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/salesianbulletin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2026-01-20-Fr-Gaetano-Nicosia-feature.jpg?fit=1600%2C917&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p59ePG-7nw","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10336596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28366"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28370,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28366\/revisions\/28370"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}