明清之際天主教對華傳教以澳門為基地，故此，澳門與中國內地天主教的傳播有著密切的關係。關於這一問題的研究，除在多部澳門史及中西文化交流史著作提及外，專題性論文尚未見，而通史型著作中關於這一問題的研究又多流於粗略空泛，且錯訛甚多。本文藉整理澳門中文檔案文獻之餘，發現其中很多關於澳門與中國內地天主教關係的新資料，故在結合中西文獻檔案史料的基礎上，擬分成四個方面對這一問題進行一次較為詳細系統的闡述，以求更加清楚地認識明清之際澳門在天主教對華傳教史上的地位與作用。

As Macao acted as a bastion of Christianity during the Ming and Qing dynasties, it played a vital role in the spread of Christianity to China. However, so far Macao’s importance has been merely mentioned in the general histories of Macao and Sino- Western cultural exchange. In other words, no especial article or monograph about this subject exists. After compiling Chinese documents and materials relating to the history of Macao, a large quantity of materials about the relationship between Macao and Christianity in the Chinese inland was unearthed. In this article, I analyze in detail four points of this problem systematically, making use of some valuable materials in both Chinese and Western languages. This will help us realize clearly the position of Macao in the history of Christianity in China during the Ming and Qing periods.