BEIJING SILENT ON VATICAN TALKS; ADDITIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIJING 013860

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM, DRL, DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/28/2016
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PREL CH VT
SUBJECT: BEIJING SILENT ON VATICAN TALKS; ADDITIONAL
ORDINATIONS ON HOLD PENDING RESULTS

REF: A. BEIJING 13676


B. BEIJING 9291

Classified By: Ambassador Clark T. Randt, Jr. Reasons: 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
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1. (C) Officials of China's Foreign Ministry, State
Administration for Religious Affairs and Catholic Patriotic
Association all denied knowledge of any Vatican delegation in
Beijing for talks concerning relations between China and the
Holy See. American NGO activist John Kamm told the
Ambassador that China had planned to ordain 30 new bishops
but put the plans on hold pending the result of the current
visit by Archbishop Celli. Celli's visit would mark
fulfillment of one of China's promises to the USG in
connection with President Hu's visit to Washington.


2. (C) Separately, an official overseeing religious affairs
told us that for the first time since the Communists took
power, the Government in May notified the Vatican about a
list of names it proposed to elevate to bishop. The Vatican
did not respond. When the Vatican then criticized the
ordinations, the Chinese were angry, he said. End Summary.


3. (C) Officials from MFA, SARA and the Chinese Catholic
Patriotic Association recently told Poloff that they were
unaware of any talks in Beijing with representatives of the
Vatican. As noted ref A, the MFA press spokeswoman June 27
denied knowledge of any such talks. Catholic Patriotic
Association (CPA) Vice President Liu Bainian told Poloff he
highly doubted an official Vatican delegation was in Beijing
because such talks are premature. SARA Foreign Affairs
official Liu Jinguang said no official visit was taking
place, but let on that sometimes Catholic figures traveled to
China in their individual capacity and took advantage of the
occasion to learn about the religious situation in China.

Ordination of Bishops A Hot Topic
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4. (C) In a June 29 telephone conversation with the
Ambassador, NGO activist John Kamm said he understood that
the Chinese had made plans to ordain 30 new bishops, but that
they had put those plans on hold pending the outcome of
Archbishop Celli's visit. The planned ordinations would have
gone forward without consultation with the Holy See, making
more difficult any improvement in relations, according to the
information Kamm said he received from sources within China.


5. (C) The Chinese religious affairs officials we spoke with
denied plans to ordain more bishops in the near future. But
they acknowledged anger over the Vatican's handling of the
May conflict in which China ordained four new bishops, two of
whom were not approved by the Holy See (ref b).

Historic First: Chinese Prenotified Vatican
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6. (C) SARA's Liu said China had, for the first time since
1949 (when the Communists took power),reported to the
Vatican the names of the bishops it intended to ordain. He
claimed that the Vatican failed to appreciate the
significance of this gesture and, to China's surprise, failed
to respond to this notice. Only after the public ordinations
took place without a Vatican comment did the Vatican announce
that the bishops involved in the illicit ordinations could be
excommunicated, he claimed. China took that reaction as a
slap in the face, SARA's Liu said. As noted ref B, the CPA's
Liu said China has more than 40 dioceses without a bishop,
making the need to resolve the ordination question acute. He
denied any plans to conduct further ordinations in the near
future.
RANDT