China's Catholic Church announced the opening of the country's
largest seminary in Beijing on Thursday to train Chinese
priests.
"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 sound Catholic theology to commit wholly to the Holy
Catholic Church and dedicate themselves to their ministry," said
Liu Bainian, vice president of the association.
The Chinese government has provided 73.71 million yuan (US$9.214
million) to help with the construction 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 a land area of 4.8 hectares.
(Xinhua News Agency September 28, 2006)
