Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CHENGDU102
2009-06-11 03:21:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Chengdu
Cable title:  

SOUTHWEST CHINA: CONVERSATIONS WITH XICHANG CHRISTIANS

Tags:  PHUM KIRF SOCI PGOV CH 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENGDU 000102 

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/11/2019
TAGS: PHUM KIRF SOCI PGOV CH
SUBJECT: SOUTHWEST CHINA: CONVERSATIONS WITH XICHANG CHRISTIANS

REF: 05 CHENGDU 548

CHENGDU 00000102 001.2 OF 003


CLASSIFIED BY: James A. Boughner, Consul General, U.S. Consulate
General, Chengdu.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENGDU 000102

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/11/2019
TAGS: PHUM KIRF SOCI PGOV CH
SUBJECT: SOUTHWEST CHINA: CONVERSATIONS WITH XICHANG CHRISTIANS

REF: 05 CHENGDU 548

CHENGDU 00000102 001.2 OF 003


CLASSIFIED BY: James A. Boughner, Consul General, U.S. Consulate
General, Chengdu.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary: According to Catholic and Protestant church
members in the city of Xichang in southern Sichuan Province,
urban and rural churches in the area operate relatively freely.
The local Catholic community boasts nine priests and 25 nuns,
regularly receives priests from South Korea and Taiwan, and
appears to follow the Vatican on religious matters. Bulletin
boards at the Xichang cathedral are openly posted with Vatican
publications and pictures of Pope Benedict XVI. Protestants
from rural areas travel to Xichang for baptisms, but meet in
groups in their villages for regular services. End summary.

Catholic Church
--------------


2. (SBU) During a recent visit to Xichang, the capital of
Liangshan Prefecture in southern Sichuan, Congenoff made an
informal survey of local Catholic and Protestant Church
facilities. The Catholic Cathedral, originally a family temple
that was transformed into a church a century ago, was renovated
in 1997. A priest, who had graduated from the Catholic Seminary
in Pi County in Chengdu three years ago, and two parish workers
spoke with Congenoff. Nine priests and 25 nuns live in
buildings adjacent to the Cathedral. All the priests are under
the age of forty. The older generation of priests trained
outside China has for the most part passed away, although Bishop
Chen (reftel) of the adjacent Diocese of Yibin in Sichuan, who
was trained and ordained by French missionaries, is still
vigorous in his nineties. Xichang's priests visit congregations
to preach and say mass on a rural circuit that takes them away
from the cathedral for three or so weeks at a time. They are
also involved in rural charitable work in cooperation with the
Ministry of Civil Affairs.


3. (C) The Xichang Cathedral is in regular contact with Catholic
priests from South Korea and Taiwan. A priest or nun from
Taiwan or South Korea comes every year to stay at the Cathedral

for a year. A Catholic organization in Taiwan led by a priest
with a doctorate in theology helps with funds for renovating
church facilities, charitable work, and the theological studies
of the priests and nuns. The priest Congenoff spoke with said
he studied Catholic theology for several years at the Catholic
Seminary in Chengdu followed by a year of study in Beijing. The
Chengdu seminary trains priests for Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and
Chongqing. When Congenoff visited at mid-day all the nuns were
away. A parish worker said that the nuns were off doing
religious education.


4. (C) Congenoff noted in the church office a number of Catholic
publications: two magazines published respectively by the
dioceses of Chongqing and Kunming and a Chinese national
Catholic magazine. During a tour of the Xichang Cathedral, a
parish worker explained that the original architectural design
of French missionaries is well-preserved today since the
structure was not damaged during the Cultural Revolution, which
was relatively mild in Xichang. Pinned to church bulletin
boards in the back were several articles with pictures of Pope
Benedict XVI. Nowhere on the exterior or interior of the
church were there any signs that referred to the Catholic
Patriotic Church to which all Catholic churches in China must
officially belong. Photos of the church interior are among a
collection of Xichang trip pictures at


Protestant Church
--------------


5. (SBU) The Protestant church, an older building that has not
been recently renovated, is built hard against another building
on a street corner and opens inwards to its own small compound.
(Note: Officially recognized Protestant Churches in China belong
to the "Three Selfs Patriotic Movement" which was organized in

1951. The "Three Selfs" stand for self-governance, self-support
and self-propagation.") The small compound contained another
building labeled "Children's Sunday School," which had a small
red banner proclaiming "Jesus has Risen" (Yesu Fuhuo) on it, and
a church office. Although the church and office were closed, a
member of the congregation agreed to talk with Congenoff. He
said that a French minister had guided the church until 1947,
but it since been led by Chinese.


6. (SBU) According to the man, most of the local people who
attend church regularly are retired like himself, since younger
people are busy with family and work. There are also some

CHENGDU 00000102 002.2 OF 003


Christian groups that meet in the countryside although they come
to the church in Xichang for baptisms. (Note: In the Chengdu
area of Sichuan 500 km to the north, Protestant meetings in the
countryside that have fewer than 15 worshippers appear to be
generally not harassed by government authorities even if not
officially registered). The man remarked to Congenoff that
members of his church do not have any contact with Catholics.
(Note: In Chinese there is no word for Christian with the same
range of meaning as in English. The word Christian is normally
translated as "jidutu," which refers to Protestant Christianity.
As a result, Chinese Protestants and Catholics seem to be less
aware than Christians in other countries of the similarities in
their religious beliefs. End note).

Comments
--------------


7. (SBU) The veneer of the "Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church,"
which based on Congenoff's experience visiting churches in the
region can be thin, did not seem visible at all at the Xichang
Cathedral. Tolerance of religious freedom in Southwest China
appears in practice to vary from place to place according to the
policies pursued by the local Religious Affairs Bureau.
Christians with whom Congenoff spoke seemed fairly content with
the current state of religious affairs in Xichang.


8. (U) Appendix: A History of the Xichang Diocese posted
outside the Xichang Cathedral is translated below:

Catholic Diocese of Xichang - A Brief Introduction

The Catholic faith came to Xichang region (then called Ningyuan
Fu) in the early 19th century. In 1903, the foreign priest
Guang Ruoyu of the Xufu diocese came from Yibin to the Ailang
district of Huili and to Xichang to preach. Since the Qing
Dynasty had conferred upon Guang Ruoyu a high award, the "wuping
dingdai," where ever he went to preach, he was welcomed by local
governments and people and his missionary work went well and the
numbers of converts to Catholicism grew steadily. In 1904, he
bought the Xiao Family Temple and in 1908 transformed the Li
Family Temple. In 1910, Xichang was separated from the Yibin
Diocese and the Xichang Diocese was established. The Xichang
Diocese was administered from 1910 - 1924 by the Paris Foreign
Missions Society with Guang Ruoyu as its first bishop. During
1910 - 1916 many new churches and monasteries were built
throughout the region. In 1915 Bishop Guang Ruoyu was
transferred to Guangdong to do religious work there.

The second bishop was Pu Enyou, an interim substitute bishop
(1918 - 1925) established the Ningyuan Fu diocese, built a Latin
School, a convent, an elementary and middle school (the Anna
School),a monastery for spiritual contemplation and penance.
In 1926, Pu Enyou died.

The third bishop, Bao Mingyan, (French, 1927) headed the diocese
for twenty years. The diocese expanded considerably and
preaching was done and churches built in all parts of the
diocese. Social services carried out by the diocese including
operating a hospital and providing free medicine, helping the
poor and building homes for elderly impoverished people who were
without support.

Statistics for the Ningyuan Diocese in 1948 just before
Liberation: Over 30 churches, 32 Chinese and foreign priests
( 19 Chinese, 13 foreign),34 nuns (23 Chinese, 11 foreign) and
10,968 Catholics.

After the Third Session of the Eleventh Congress of the Chinese
Communist Party, the state implemented a policy of allowing
normal religious activities.

The fourth bishop of the Xichang Diocese was Xie Chaogang (1991
- 1999) from Huili in Sichuan Province. He was the first bishop
chosen in the Xichang Diocese after Liberation and the first
bishop chosen and consecrated [by the diocese]. During the
term of Bishop Xie, he worked vigorously to implement the
religious policy of the Party Committee and Government. Since
the restoration of the convent in 1993, over 90 nuns have been
trained for dioceses in the southwest. Now 25 nuns reside in
the convent.

Currently the Xichang Diocese does not have a bishop so Father
Lei Jiapei was chosen (1999 - present) to lead all aspects of
the work of the diocese.

The Xichang Diocese now covers 22 cities and counties in
Liangshan Prefecture and Panzhihua including about 35,000
Catholics, 13 new and old churches, seven religious activity
points, nine priests, eight monks and 25 nuns.


CHENGDU 00000102 003.2 OF 003


Currently, the Xichang Diocese has established these social
services organizations: The Huili Catholics Sophia Nursery
School, the Dechang County Catholic Ming'ai Nursery School, the
Qiangzhou Catholic Tian'ai Nursery School, making a contribution
to society.

End translation of text.
BOUGHNER