Portuguese Jesuit priest Melchior Miguel Carniero Leitão was appointed Titular Bishop of Nicaea on January 23, 1555.
A year later (on January 26, 1576),[clarify] Pope Gregory XIII issued an edict for the establishment of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau, where Leitão served—he was appointed the first bishop of Macau, a position he occupied till 1581.
[1] Initially, the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Macau included China, Japan, Hong Kong, the Korean Peninsula and neighbouring areas.
However, with development and the increasing need for pastoral work, the Vatican has since established more than 600 other Roman Catholic dioceses in the region.
Presently, the diocese has jurisdiction over six parishes and three quasi-parishes in the Macau Peninsula, Taipa and Coloane.