SANT'EGIDIO SEES SLOW PROGRESS IN CHINA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 VATICAN 000212 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT. FOR EUR/WE LARREA, DRL/IRF HEWETT E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/4/2016 TAGS: PREL PHUM CH KIRF VT SUBJECT: SANT'EGIDIO SEES SLOW PROGRESS IN CHINA REF: A. VATICAN 185 ¶B. 05 VATICAN 484 VATICAN 00000212 001.2 OF 003 CLASSIFIED BY: Peter G. Martin, Political Officer, Political, Embassy Vatican, State. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Contacts from the Vatican-affiliated Community of Sant'Egidio told us that diplomatic relations between China and the Holy See remain elusive despite some official contacts between the Holy See and Chinese authorities. Sant'Egidio has continued its mainly academic and cultural contacts with China, low-level contact that the Community thinks will form the groundwork for an eventual establishment of relations between the Holy See and China. Our contact told us that issues like dual hierarchies (patriotic vs. underground Church) in some Catholic dioceses need to be resolved first. The establishment of a papal nuncio would in some ways be a welcome change for Chinese authorities, as it would lead to increased internal order in the Catholic Church. Sant'Egidio commented on the relative ease of the construction of new churches, and the on-going training of priests in Rome from both patriotic and non-official churches. -------------- Softly Softly Approach Works Best -------------- ¶2. (C) Sant'Egidio's Asian affairs expert Valeria Martano told us September 21 that diplomatic relations between China and the Holy See were still a long way off despite some official contacts between the Vatican and Chinese authorities (reftels). Martano defined these as more courtesy visits than anything substantial. Repeating what she told us in a previous meeting (ref b),Martano said eventual diplomatic relations between China and the Holy See will have to be worked out well in advance on an unofficial level, with the signing ceremony being the first and last "official" component of the whole process, "as happened with the negotiations for the handover of Hong Kong," she added. Martano said Sant'Egidio's work in China continued to focus on its contacts within the cultural and academic spheres who also had leverage with the Chinese authorities. ¶3. (C) Martano used the image of the open door that no one wants to pass through, as a metaphor for the Holy See's position towards China. She agrees with all of our contacts on China that former Secretary of State Sodano's promise that the Holy See would move its nunciature back to Beijing from Taipei overnight if the Chinese resumed diplomatic relations still holds. The arrival of Sodano's replacement, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone and new Vatican FM, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, is unlikely to result in any substantial change to that policy, according to Martano. -------------- Solve Internal Order Issues First -------------- ¶4. (C) Martano repeated what we have often heard about the issue of internal church order in China. She said it needs to be resolved prior to any form of official relations between China and the Holy See. She confirmed that there are areas in China with a "dual hierarchy" of official and underground clergy. Once this anomaly is resolved, the Chinese are more likely to accept the presence of a nuncio (ambassador) or perhaps first an apostolic delegate (pope's envoy to the local Catholic Church). The Chinese would be happy to have a single point of reference who would have some "control" over bishops and clergy who might VATICAN 00000212 002.2 OF 003 pose a "threat to China's internal order." ¶5. (C) When pressed about the benefit to China of diplomatic relations with the Holy See, Martano said it was precisely the question of maintaining order that would most appeal to the Chinese. With all China's Catholics eventually "under Rome" there would be only one authority figure in the nuncio or apostolic delegate to work through The Catholic system of hierarchical authority, Martano said, posed less of a challenge for control than the structure of Protestant and evangelical Christian communities, which have little or no hierarchy. -------------- Churches and Seminarians -------------- ¶6. (C) Martano noted an upsurge in spirituality within the Chinese population as a whole during her visit to China this summer. She said that Catholics from both the official and "underground" churches seemed to have no difficulty with constructing new churches and other places for worship. Martano made the comment that it is easier to build a new church in communist China than, for example, in Indonesia, where a tough and complicated permit system "has resulted in no new construction for some 40 years." ¶7. (C) As previously noted in ref (b),seminarians from both the underground and official churches continue to come to Rome for their priestly formation at the Pontifical Urban College - a seminary run by the Holy See's missionary department. However, the new prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Indian-born Cardinal Ivan Dias, has now decided to house these students in various clerical residences throughout Rome to ensure their exposure to a wider range of experiences. Sant'Egidio told us that Cardinal Dias wants to ensure China's future priests, some of whom will become bishops because of their Roman training, have good contacts with clergy from a wide variety of backgrounds and nationalities to "broaden their minds." -------------- Democracy Cannot Be Imposed -------------- ¶8. (C) Discussing the high level Italian governmental delegation visit to China last September 13-18, Martano said a strategy for "engagement" on democracy and freedom put forward by the Italian Minister for European Policy and International Trade, Emma Bonino, was right on the mark. Martano said that democracy cannot be exported, nor can it be imposed. She said a strategy that consistently emphasized the rights and freedoms already protected in Chinese law works far better than criticizing repression. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶9. (C) From Martano's perspective, the flurry of media and other speculation surrounding the June visit to Beijing by Archbishop Claudio Celli did not change the dynamic of relations between the Holy See and China. Martano said Celli blamed the "secret" visit's lack of success on leaks to the media that spooked the Chinese, but for Martano, Celli shouldn't have been expecting VATICAN 00000212 003.2 OF 003 anything more than a small step forward. For its part, Sant'Egidio continues to operate at a discrete but effective level in China. Its contacts within the cultural and academic communities have considerable leverage with Chinese authorities. Their "behind the scenes" style makes the Community a good source of information and commentary on a variety of issues, not exclusively Church-related. ROONEY