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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)