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

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CLASSIFIED BY: Peter G. Martin, Political Officer, Political,
Embassy Vatican, State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)
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Summary

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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.



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Softly Softly Approach Works Best

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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.



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Solve Internal Order Issues First

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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

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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.



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Churches and Seminarians

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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."



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Democracy Cannot Be Imposed

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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.



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Comment

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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

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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