中国澳门仁慈堂的法律地位变迁研究

A Study on the Changes in the Legal Status of the Macao House of Mercy

中国澳门慈善机构仁慈堂自其成立至今跨越400多年的漫长岁月,穿梭在不同的文化与法律时空,它从最初宗教法的善会法人演变为如今世俗法的行政公益法人。从其发展历程来看,作为葡人社会的支柱性机构,中国澳门仁慈堂在共同法时代受到世俗法与教会法双重规范,在法典化时代,随着慈善事业向国家责任的让渡,又逐步被纳入法典化体系下的全面规范中。但在法律的外衣下,它的宗旨与运作一开始就与天主教信徒的精神、大航海时代海上商人的物质生活方式相契合,从西法东渐的角度来看,它也是西方法律史及其文化意涵演进余波的受事者、见证者以及制造者。

The Macao Holy House of Mercy has spanned more than 400 years since its establishment.Traveling through different cultural and legal time and space,it has evolved from the initial charity association to today’s administrative public welfare legal person.From the perspective of its development process,being a pillar institution of the Portuguese society,the Macao Holy House of Mercy was regulated by both secular law and canon law in the era of common law.With the transfer of charity to state responsibility in the era of codification,it gradually incorporated into comprehensive specifications under the codification system.However under the cloak of law,its aim and operation have been consistent with the spirit of Catholics and the material lifestyle of maritime merchants from the outset in the Age of Discovery.From the per-spective of the“Eastward spread of Western Law”,it is also a recipient,witness and maker of the aftermath of the evolution of Western legal history and its cultural impli-cations.