CHINA INSTALLS ANOTHER BISHOP IN WORSENING

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