Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06HONGKONG2050
2006-05-17 10:36:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Hong Kong
Cable title:  

CHINA INSTALLS ANOTHER BISHOP IN WORSENING

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PINR PREL HK CH VT 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7681
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHHK #2050/01 1371036
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 171036Z MAY 06
FM AMCONSUL HONG KONG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6738
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HONG KONG 002050 

SIPDIS

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DEPT FOR EAP AND EAP/CM
NSC FOR DENNIS WILDER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2031
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL HK CH VT
SUBJECT: CHINA INSTALLS ANOTHER BISHOP IN WORSENING
VATICAN-PRC RELATIONSHIP

REF: HONG KONG 1817

HONG KONG 00002050 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: E/P Chief Simon Schuchat. Reasons: 1.4(b,d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HONG KONG 002050

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP AND EAP/CM
NSC FOR DENNIS WILDER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2031
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL HK CH VT
SUBJECT: CHINA INSTALLS ANOTHER BISHOP IN WORSENING
VATICAN-PRC RELATIONSHIP

REF: HONG KONG 1817

HONG KONG 00002050 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: E/P Chief Simon Schuchat. Reasons: 1.4(b,d).


1. (C) Summary: On May 14, Bishop Zhan Silu celebrated Mass
to mark his formal installation as Bishop of the Mindong
Diocese in the PRC,s Fujian Province. According to
Monsignor Eugene Nugent, the papal representative in Hong
Kong, Zhan was illicitly ordained a bishop in 2000 but was
never formally installed as head of the diocese and has never
hosted a full Mass as bishop. The Holy See has been
appreciative of Zhan's low profile in the Diocese in recent
years, and had considered a review of his case which might
have led to his legitimization as a Vatican-approved bishop.
Now, however, this review was in "cold storage." As Zhan's
appointment lacked papal approval, his installation will
likely exacerbate the row between the Vatican and Beijing
over recent ordinations. Nugent opined that there has been a
change in Beijing,s policy towards the Holy See, apparently
with the tacit support of top leaders, and the recent
ordinations might constitute retaliation for the March
elevation of Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, an outspoken
individual whom Beijing simply did not like. End Summary.

Beijing Installs Bishop Lacking Vatican Approval
-------------- ---


2. (C) On May 14, Bishop Zhan Silu celebrated Mass with 500
Catholics and officials in a Ningde church to mark his formal
installation as Bishop of the Mindong Diocese in Fujian
Province. As Zhan's appointment lacked papal approval, his
installation is likely to exacerbate the row between the
Vatican and Beijing over the recent consecration of bishops.
Unlike the newly ordained Bishops Ma Yinglin and Liu Xinhong,
however, Zhan (and four other PRC priests) already had been
appointed bishop on January 6, 2000, against the Holy See's
wishes (reftel). Nevertheless, Zhan was never formally
installed as head of the Mindong diocese and had never hosted

a full Mass as bishop. He told the "Union of Catholic Asian
News (UCAN)," on May 15 that he decided to be installed "due
to the requests of laypeople and advice of government
officials." Moreover, said Zhan, the Diocese needed a new
leader after the death of open (or Government-approved)
Church Bishop Peter Zhang Shizhi last fall. Zhan
acknowledged that he did not have the Pope's approval, but
said that he hoped the Holy See, the underground Catholic
community and his priests would accept him as bishop.


3. (C) Monsignor Eugene Nugent, the papal representative in
Hong Kong, told us May 15 that the installment of Bishop Zhan
in the Mindong Diocese was related to the deaths last August
of Bishop Zhang, head of the open Catholic community, and
Bishop Xie Shiguan, a revered underground bishop, who died
within weeks of each other. While Coadjutor Bishop Vincent
Huang Shoucheng now heads the underground community, there
was a vacancy in the open church that Zhan now has filled.
With 40,000 members, the underground Catholic community in
the Mindong Diocese is significantly larger than the
government-recognized Catholic community of 10,000 people.


4. (C) After Zhan's ordination in 2000, Nugent said they had
exchanged letters. The Holy See had been appreciative of
Zhan's low-profile in the Mindong Diocese over the past
several years and until last Sunday, Zhan had refrained from
taking on his full duties as bishop and had never hosted a
Mass as bishop. There had even been a review of Zhan's case
that might have led to his legitimization as a
Vatican-approved bishop, but this latest development has put
the review in "cold storage." Nugent confirmed that Zhan,
along with Ma Yinglin and Liu Xinhong, now were considered
excommunicated. Nugent said he was still reviewing the cases
of the two ordaining bishops to determine if there were any
extenuating circumstances (i.e. pressure from the Government)
to explain their participation in the illicit ordinations.

Possible Retaliation for Zen's Elevation
--------------


5. (C) Without a representative office in Beijing, it was
difficult for the Vatican to understand the PRC's motives in
pushing forward the recent ordinations of bishops, said
Nugent, although he had heard that the PRC Foreign Ministry
was unhappy over the current crisis. Nugent opined that the
illicit ordinations signaled a change in policy towards the
Holy See which was either instigated or strongly supported by
Liu Bainian, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic
Association (CCPA),and which appeared to enjoy the tacit

HONG KONG 00002050 002.2 OF 002


support of top leaders in Beijing. The ordinations might
also be an attempt to install as many "patriotic" bishops as
possible before concrete steps towards normalization of
Vatican-PRC relations took place. Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph
Zen's recent elevation -- an outspoken person whom Beijing
simply did not like ) also was a likely factor, said Nugent.


6. (C) The Vatican's initial reaction to the unauthorized
bishop ordinations was to err on the side of caution and to
refrain from hasty statements condemning the PRC, said
Nugent. However, Zen felt otherwise and had urged the
Vatican to make a strong statement condemning the ordinations
as soon as possible -- a position which Nugent shared. Next
week, Zen will travel to Rome and brief the Pope on the
latest developments. The Cardinal's role in the
Vatican-Beijing relationship is likely to be clarified
through this visit, opined Nugent.


7. (C) When asked about Zen's statement that normalization of
relations might occur before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing,
Nugent responded that this was perhaps just wishful thinking
on the part of Cardinal Zen and that he personally did not
believe this was a realistic target date. Although Zen had
become optimistic about the opportunity to normalize
relations after his elevation to cardinal, Beijing had not
responded to Zen's statements.

More Illicit Ordinations Expected
--------------


8. (C) Recent claims by the PRC Religious Affairs Bureau
(RAB) that appointments were urgently needed for the 40
diocese currently without bishops were "misleading," said
Nugent. This number did not take into account the 40-50
underground bishops that were in communion with the Holy See,
but not recognized by the PRC Government. (Note: Over the
past few decades, the PRC Government, without Vatican
approval, amalgamated several diocese within China to mirror
official administrative districts. Therefore, the Holy See
currently recognizes a greater number of diocese than the
Chinese Government. End Note.) In response to complaints by
the PRC side that the Vatican was too slow to approve their
candidates, Nugent said that the same could be said about the
Chinese Government; the Vatican has provided the Chinese side
with 8-10 bishop candidates whom PRC officials have not yet
approved. Beijing has manufactured a sense of urgency for
the issue, and Nugent expected to see more ordinations of
bishops without papal approval in coming months.


9. (C) During a May 17 interview with Xinhua News Agency, Liu
Bainian said China would continue to appoint more bishops.
According to Liu, before there could be an improvement in
Vatican-Holy See relations, "the Chinese Church has to select
and ordain its bishops independently" and they must be "pious
and patriotic." "This is the arrangement of Christ," said
Liu. Citing an urgent need to appoint bishops in diocese
where no bishop presided, Liu said, "Can we wait 50 years if
China and the Vatican negotiate that long?...We will be
sinful before Christ if we don't spread the Gospel."
Injecting nationalism into the current discussion on the
right to appoint bishops, Liu added, "China will never allow
the Chinese Church to revert to the one similar to that in
the era of semi-colonial and semi-feudal society or subject
to any foreign domination."

Biographic Information for Zhan Silu
--------------


10. (C) Zhan was born in 1961 and was ordained a priest of
Mindong Diocese in 1989. From 1995-1997, Zhan studied in
Hong Kong at the Holy Spirit Study Center, where he knew
Cardinal Zen, said Nugent. According to UCAN, Zhan is a Vice
Chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and a
member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference.
Cunningham