CHINA ORDAINS THIRD "ILLICIT" BISHOP OF THE YEAR;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HONG KONG 004610

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2031
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL HK CH VT
SUBJECT: CHINA ORDAINS THIRD "ILLICIT" BISHOP OF THE YEAR;
ORDINATION SEEN AS "PROVOCATIVE"


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Classified By: E/P Chief Laurent Charbonnet


1. (C) Summary: Monsignor Eugene Nugent, the papal
representative in Hong Kong, told us on December 1 that the
installation of Wang Renlei, the Vicar General of the Xuzhou
Diocese in Jiangsu Province, as the auxiliary bishop of the
diocese was "quite worrying" and "provocative." The
participation of two high-ranking religious affairs officials
at Wang's installation ceremony signaled a "real snub" to the
Vatican. Cardinal Zen told the Consul General that the
Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) had engaged in
increasingly aggressive actions and that the PRC Government
was failing to control it. According to Nugent, the Vatican
belatedly heard of Wang's ordination and did not have time to
properly vet his candidacy. Two Bishops from Hebei Province
were deceived and taken from their home province to Xuzhou
against their will; one escaped, while the other was forced
to attend the ceremony. Ironically, the Church likely would
have approved Wang as a Bishop if given the time to vet him
properly, said Nugent. End Summary.

Beijing Installs Third "Illicit" Bishop of the Year
-------------- --------------


2. (C) Monsignor Eugene Nugent, the papal representative in
Hong Kong, told us on December 1 that the installation of
Wang Renlei, the Vicar General of the Xuzhou Diocese in
Jiangsu Province, as the auxiliary bishop of the diocese was
"quite worrying" because PRC authorities had assured the
Vatican during Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli's June visit to
Beijing that they would halt the illicit Bishop ordinations.
The latest ordination, which lacked Holy See approval, was
"very provocative" said Nugent, particularly since two
high-ranking religious affairs officials, Director Ye Xiaowen
of the State Administration of Religious Affairs (SARA) and
Vice Chairman Liu Bainian of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic
Association (CCPA) also attended the ceremony. According to
Nugent, this latest ordination was a "real snub" to the
Vatican, which he expected would release a statement after
the Pope and the Vatican Secretary of State returned to Rome
from their official visit to Turkey.


3. (C) Nugent received news of the October 21 election (Wang
was the sole candidate) in Xuzhou diocese via a third party
on November 21. Two days later, Nugent learned that the
ordination ceremony would take place on November 30 -- not
enough time for the Vatican to properly vet Wang's candidacy
-- and Nugent said he was surprised there had been no
attempts by anyone from the diocese to contact the Vatican
earlier about the planned ordination ceremony. Nugent,
questioning the need for "such haste," said the ordination
had "come out of the blue" and also observed that 92-year old
Bishop Qian Yurong of Xuzhou was old but still in good
health.

Bishops Pressured to Attend Ceremony
--------------


4. (C) Nugent emphasized that most Bishops and clergy are
aware the Vatican disapproves of these illicit ordinations
and many therefore do not willingly participate in the
ceremonies, so religious officials often pressure clergy to
attend. For Wang's installation ceremony, it appears that
two Bishops from Hebei Province were deceived in their home
province and taken against their will to Xuzhou. Li Liangui,
Bishop of Cangshou (Xianxian) and Peter Feng Xinmao, Bishop
of Hengshui, were told on November 29 by Religious Affairs
Bureau (RAB) officials that they would be taken to check on
some previously confiscated Church property in Tianjin,
according to a November 29 "AsiaNews" report. (Both Bishops
belong to the official church, but also were approved by the
Vatican.) Instead of driving to Tianjin, however, the
Bishops were taken to Xuzhou.


5. (C) Nugent acknowledged that religious officials often
pressured clergy, but said he had never heard of government
officials resorting to "abduction." The whole incident was
"like something out of a movie." Li was able to escape his
minders and, according to a November 30 "AsiaNews" report,
currently was in hiding. While Feng was forced to attend the
ceremony, he reportedly did not take part in the ritual. At
midnight, the night before the ceremony, Feng had been able
to call Nugent by telling the security guards that he wanted
to call the Vicar General of his diocese, in order to
reassure him of his whereabouts and well-being. According to
Feng, each of the Bishops was guarded by ten security

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officers, who prevented them from speaking to anybody. When
asked whether Li might face some form of punishment for
escaping, Nugent said that he wasn't worried about this, but
noted that PRC officials might be "vindictive."

Liu Bainian Denies Abduction Allegation
--------------


6. (C) After the ceremony, Liu Bainian denied media reports
that some bishops had been forced to attend the ordination.
Liu told the "Union of Catholic News" (UCAN) that Bishop Wang
personally had invited the Bishops who attended the ceremony.
Liu, responding to concerns that the Holy See had not been
informed in a timely fashion of Wang's election as a bishop,
also said, "the Vatican should have trust in the China Church
-- that it would not approve a candidate that does not love
the Church and the country."

Zen Criticizes Episcopal Ordination
--------------


7. (C) Cardinal Joseph Zen told the Consul General on
November 27 that he was very concerned about the current
situation in China. During the conversation (which occurred
before Wang's ordination had taken place) Zen noted that the
Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) had engaged in
increasingly aggressive actions and that the PRC Government
was failing to control it. Separately, Zen said the Pope had
agreed to his recommendation that the Vatican hold a strategy
session in Rome regarding the Holy See's policy towards
China.


8. (C) After the ordination, Zen publicly criticized the
Chinese religious officials and said that the latest
ordination was even more serious than the first two. Not
only did the Chinese break their assurances to the Vatican
delegation that they would halt illicit ordinations, but they
had also used "threat, allurement, and deceit...(and)
forceful abduction and kidnapping!" to coerce participation
by the Bishops in the ceremony. In his statement, Zen asked
the Chinese to "start a substantial dialogue with the Holy
See to find a way acceptable to both the State and the Holy
See."

Bishop Wang Renlei -- A "Nice Fellow"
--------------


9. (C) Under normal circumstances, the Vatican takes several
months to vet a candidate for Bishop; this usually involves
communicating with people both inside and outside the diocese
who are familiar with the candidate. With only one week to
gather information about Wang, Nugent said that he was still
working on getting a more complete picture of Wang from
fellow clergy. According to one foreign priest/teacher,
while at age 36 Wang was relatively young to be a Bishop, he
nevertheless was a nice, spiritual, man of prayer who was
committed to working for the good of the people. So far,
said Nugent, he had not found anything negative about Wang
that would disqualify him from Vatican approval. Despite
this initial positive assessment, Nugent said that he found
it strange that Wang had made no attempt to contact him or
other Vatican officials regarding his impending installation
as bishop, or to give the Vatican some warning of his
election.


10. (C) Wang was born in Weishan, Shandong Province, which is
only 58 kilometers north of Xuzhou, where he now resides. He
studied at the Sheshan Regional Seminary in Shanghai
(1989-1992) and was ordained a priest in 1996. He also
studied at the National Seminary in Beijing and graduated in

1999.

Why Use Wang's Installation to Snub the Vatican?
-------------- ---


11. (C) Nugent said that he was not terribly surprised that
PRC religious officials had chosen Wang's ordination as an
opportunity to provoke the Holy See. (Comment: The illicit
ordination of Bishop Ma Yinglin of Kunming Diocese, Sichuan
Province, had made more "sense" especially in light of Ma's
close ties to the PRC Government and the likelihood that the
Vatican would have rejected him as a candidate. Wang,
however, has no obvious marks against him and we are not
aware of any ties to Chinese religious officials. End
Comment.) Liu Bainian, said Nugent, also was a native of
Shandong Province, traditionally considered a strong bastion

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of patriots. Nugent speculated that Liu wanted to make a
symbolic point that a Bishop from his home province would be
a patriotic Bishop.


12. (C) Father Peter Barry, a Researcher at the Holy Spirit
Study Center, opined to poloff on December 1 that the latest
illicit ordination might have been a response by the PRC
Government to Cardinal Zen's remarks in the November issue of
the "Far Eastern Economic Review" (FEER). Though Zen's
overall prediction of where Asia was headed in the next ten
years was quite positive, said Barry, he might have
unintentionally upset PRC religious affairs officials with
some of his comments. During the interview, Zen predicted
that democracy would take root in Hong Kong and China and
relations between the Holy See and the PRC would be
reconciled by 2016. However, SARA and CCPA officials such as
Ye and Liu, might have taken offense to Zen's remarks that
the "illegal" ordinations of April and May were the final
desperate acts of PRC religious affairs officials.


13. (C) According to Barry, the participation of Ye and Liu
in Wang's installation ceremony signaled a clear, political
backdrop to this ceremony. He speculated that there might be
a struggle between two factions within the Government -- a
conciliatory faction interested in reconciliation with the
Vatican and a leftist faction led by the religious affairs
officials opposed to a change in the status quo. Wang's
ceremony might also be viewed as a symbolic gesture by Ye and
Liu to show the world that they were still in charge.
Unfortunately, said Barry, these religious officials had
shown that they were willing to use "outrageous" and
"ridiculous" actions, such as kidnapping Bishops, in order to
install a Bishop not approved by the Vatican. It made China
seem like the wild, wild West; a civilized country would not
act in this way in the year 2006, just two years prior to
hosting the Olympics, said Barry.

Future Illicit Ordinations?
--------------


14. (C) Nugent was aware of two other bishop ordinations,
following their elections by their local diocese. However,
as the Vatican was notified in a timely manner, those
investigations were currently underway; barring something
negative coming up during the vetting process, Nugent
expected these two bishops to be installed with both Holy See
and PRC approval.
Cunningham