China's Catholic church announced the opening of the country's
largest seminary in Beijing on Thursday.
"Under the joint leadership of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic
Association and the Chinese Catholic Bishops' Conference, the
National Seminary of the Catholic Church in China aims to train
priests with a sound Catholic theology to commit themselves wholly
to the Holy Catholic Church and dedicate themselves to their
ministry," said Liu Bainian, vice president of the association.
The government has earmarked 73.71 million yuan (US$9.2 million)
to help with the development of the seminary.
"The seminary is the heart of Chinese Catholic church, the top
advisory body in theological affairs of the Chinese Catholic
Patriotic Association and the Chinese Catholic Bishops Conference,
and the base for the construction of China's theological thought,"
said Liu.
Twenty-four foreign and Chinese professors will work at the
seminary, which is located in Daxing District to the south of
Beijing and covers 4.8 hectares.
The compound, with a floor space of more than 20,000 square
meters, is composed of 10 buildings, including a teaching building,
a lecture hall, a library, a small church, and dormitory
houses.
The National Seminary of Catholic Church in China was first
opened in 1983, but its venue changed several times. Out of its 419
students, over 240 have become priests.
Meanwhile, regional seminaries of the Chinese Catholic Church have
been opened in the cities of Shenyang, Shanghai, Wuhan, Xi'an and
Chengdu.
China has 97 Catholic parishes, but 42 have no bishops, and 29
parishes have bishops over the age of 85.
Although the number of priests has increased from 1,100 in the
early 1950s to more than 1,800 today, their numbers remain too low
to serve China's five million Catholics.
The seminary would help address the problem, said Liu, by
cultivating talent and improving their skills and expertise. The
seminary has conferred 127 bachelor degrees since 2003.
In addition, over 100 priests have been sent abroad to study
since 1994 and most have returned to work in China, said Liu.
China has also over 70 convents with more than 3,000 nuns and
the seminary is planning to start training nuns.
(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2006)