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DE RUEHCN #0286/01 3410957
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R 070957Z DEC 07
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2685
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 0049
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0007
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0008
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 3250

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000286 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EAP/CM AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  12/7/2032 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF CH
SUBJECT: KUNMING CATHOLIC NUNS TRY TO REBUILD 
 
REF: 2005 CHENGDU 000548 
 
CHENGDU 00000286  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: James A. Boughner, Consul General, U.S. Consulate 
General, Chengdu, China. 
REASON: 1.4 (d) 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  According to a nun presiding over a group of 
ten sisters at the Kunming Sacred Heart Church in southwest 
China's Yunnan Province, local religious affairs authorities are 
in general more difficult to work with than their counterparts 
to the north in Sichuan.  The church was able, however, to 
obtain official permission to accept new nuns and novices three 
years ago, is currently undergoing a rebuilding program, and 
intends to bring in foreign Maryknoll nuns to train its new 
local recruits "secretly."  End Summary 
 
 
 
¶2.   (C) Congenoff visited the Sacred Heart Catholic Church (9 
Beijing Road near center city) in southwest China's provincial 
capital of Kunming in November).  The Church is the seat of the 
Bishop of Kunming.  The last bishop of Kunming died eight years 
ago and has not since been replaced.  Sister Yang Shuyuan, who 
leads a group of ten sisters at the church, told Congenoff that 
a bishop from Beijing, Joseph Ma, devotes about one-third of his 
time to the Kunming diocese.  Yang said that Bishop Ma has not 
yet been recognized by the Pope but "he is well thought of by 
the Chinese bishops" (Note: With some notable exceptions, most 
of China's official "Catholic Patriotic Church" are currently 
recognized by the Vatican.  End note).  Yang said that 
negotiations between the Chinese and the Vatican are making slow 
progress, but hopes they will be completed within a few years. 
Inside the church, Congenoff noted a large poster with a picture 
of Pope Benedict XVI above a Chinese translation of the Pope's 
2007 Easter Message. 
 
 
 
¶3.  (C) When Congenoff mentioned meeting Bishop Chen of Yibin 
two years ago (ref), she asked about the bishop and commented 
that the religious affairs authorities in Yunnan were much 
tougher in handling Catholic affairs than their counterparts in 
Sichuan Province.  She mentioned a priest, a member of the 
"Legion of Mary", who had spent 28 years in prison as an example 
of the suffering of the priesthood.  After leaving prison,  he 
was unable to sit up straight due to his prison experience. 
Yang also mentioned a Kunming priest currently in a training 
program in France as a hope for the future. 
 
 
 
Nuns Help Rebuild 
 
----------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4.  (C)  Sister Yang, originally from Kunming, spent 17 years as 
a nun in Hong Kong and twenty in Taiwan before returning to her 
native Kunming.  She arrived just as the Yunnan religion 
authorities were returning Church properties in the late 1980's. 
 Sister Yang supported herself as a Chinese-English translator 
for the Yunnan Province S&T Commission while helping  out at the 
church until she was allowed to organize and lead a group of 
nuns.  She is now draws a pension from her translation work. 
The Yunnan local Religious Affairs Bureau authorities three 
years ago allowed the nuns to accept new members three years 
ago.  Currently there are ten nuns and two novices at the 
Kunming Sacred Heart Catholic Church. 
 
 
 
Restoring Communities and Buildings 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU )  The Sacred Heart Church was built in the Gothic 
style but lost its spires during the years it had been 
confiscated for non-religious uses.  The properties adjacent to 
the church -- an apartment building built on Church property and 
the Bishop's residence were returned six and ten years ago.  The 
Kunming Church plans to tear down the current structures and 
rebuild the church in several years once funding has been 
assured.  Restoration work on Sacred Heart Church will cost 
about RMB six million, said Yang.  Yang hopes eventually to 
build a religious community for nuns in the countryside. 
 
 
 
¶6.  (C) Yang says education and training the clergy and nuns are 
 
CHENGDU 00000286  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
a top priority.  Some of the clergy wanted to send the nuns out 
to the countryside so they will be tempered by difficult living 
conditions.  Yang had argued, successfully, that education is 
the first priority.  She is arranging for Maryknoll nuns to help 
train a new generation of nuns.  When Congenoff asked if 
permission could be obtained for foreign nuns to train Chinese 
nuns in China, Yang replied "We will do it secretly." 
 
 
 
¶7. (C) Comment: As Congenoff has noticed in other Catholic 
Churches in China, the Roman Catholic identity at Sacred Heart 
Church remains strong beneath the patriotic church veneer.   The 
Catholics at Sacred Heart hope that the Vatican-Beijing talks 
will help resolve their church's painful double life. 
BOUGHNER