US embassy cable - 02VATICAN3692

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VATICAN 003692 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/WE (MENUTTI); DRL/IRF (FARR) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2012 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, KIRF, RS, IN, IS, UP, PGOV, PHUM, KIRF, RS, IN, IS, UP, VT, VTPREL 
SUBJECT: EASTERN CHURCHES UNDER STRESS WHERE CHURCH/STATE 
SEPARATION IS WEAK 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: A/DCM GEORGE FROWICK FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D). 
 
 1. (C)  SUMMARY:  SECRETARY OF THE CONGREGATION FOR EASTERN 
CHURCHES, ARCHBISHOP ANTONIO VEGLIO, TOLD CHARGE THAT THE 
EASTERN CHURCHES -- THE 22 CHRISTIAN RITES THAT ARE NOT ROMAN 
CATHOLIC BUT ARE IN COMMUNION WITH ROME -- FACE A NUMBER OF 
CHALLENGES THAT CAST LONG SHADOWS OVER THEIR FUTURE.  BOTH 
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RADICAL ISLAM AND RUSSIAN ORTHODOXY PRESENT OBSTACLES TO THE 
VITALITY AND SURVIVAL OF THE DISPARATE EASTERN RITE CATHOLIC 
COMMUNITIES IN EURASIA, THE MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA, AND SOUTH 
ASIA, BUT, BUT IN BOTH CASES, ACCORDING TO VEGLIO, THE LACK 
OF SEPARATION BETWEEN FAITH AND STATE IS THE CHIEF HURDLE. 
WHILE CHRISTIANS ARE LEAVING THE MIDDLE EAST IN GREAT 
NUMBERS, HOLLOWING OUT MILLENNIA-OLD CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES, 
THE GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH IN UKRAINE AND THE INDIAN EASTERN 
CATHOLIC CHURCHES CENTERED ON THE STATE OF KERALA ARE THE 
MOST "LIVELY" AND GROWING.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C)  ARCHBISHOP ANTONIO VEGLIO, SECRETARY OF THE 
CONGREGATION FOR EASTERN CHURCHES TOLD CHARGE DURING A JULY 
24 MEETING THAT THE EASTERN CHURCHES IN RUSSIA AND ARAB 
COUNTRIES ARE COMING UNDER INCREASING PRESSURE, AND HAVE "A 
BIG QUESTION MARK" OVER THEIR FUTURE.  WHERE "NATIONAL" 
FAITHS ARE CLOSE TO OR INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM POLITICAL 
POWER, VEGLIO OBSERVED, THE CATHOLIC FAITHFUL FACE PERSISTENT 
DISCRIMINATION AND THE CHURCH FINDS IT DIFFICULT TO CONDUCT 
ITS PASTORAL DUTIES.  VEGLIO SAID THERE ARE 22 CHRISTIAN 
RITES THAT, WHILE NOT ROMAN CATHOLIC, NEVERTHELESS REMAIN IN 
COMMUNION WITH ROME (I.E. RECOGNIZE THE ROMAN POPE AS LEADER 
OF THE FAITHFUL).  THESE RITES ARE DIVIDED INTO FOUR 
PRINCIPAL GEOGRAPHICAL GROUPS IN: 
 
-- THE FORMERLY COMMUNIST EUROPE 
-- THE MIDDLE EAST 
-- INDIA, AND 
-- ETHIOPIA/ERITREA. 
 
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THE ORTHODOX CHALLENGE 
---------------------- 
 
3.  (C) VEGLIO, A FORMER IV GRANTEE RETURNING TO ROME AFTER 
NEARLY 30 YEARS OF OVERSEAS HOLY SEE DIPLOMATIC WORK, SAID 
HIS CONGREGATION'S PRIMARY DUTY WAS TO ENSURE THAT THESE 
CHURCHES ARE ABLE TO CARRY OUT PASTORAL CARE OF THE FAITHFUL 
WHEREVER THEY ARE (E.G. EVEN AMONG GREEK CATHOLICS IN THE 
U.S.).  REPRISING THE DIFFICULTIES CATHOLICS FACE WITH THE 
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, VEGLIO SUGGESTED THAT RUSSIAN 
ORTHODOX OBJECTIONS TO THE PRESENCE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN 
RUSSIA DERIVES FROM THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CLERGY'S "OLD 
FASHIONED WORLD VIEW, SIMILAR TO THE VATICAN'S WAY OF 
THINKING SIXTY YEARS AGO."   HE BELIEVED THAT THE CATHOLIC 
CHURCH MAY BE MORE APPEALING TO THE AVERAGE RUSSIAN OR 
UKRAINIAN BECAUSE, DURING THE YEARS OF COMMUNIST REPRESSION, 
THEY SUFFERED AND RETAINED THEIR "PURITY" WHILE THE ORTHODOX 
CHURCH HAD TOO COZY A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE COMMUNIST POWERS. 
 HE WAS CONFIDENT THAT AS THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX MODERNIZED AND 
BECAME LESS ISOLATED THEY WOULD FEEL LESS THREATENED AND 
WOULD DROP THEIR "IRRATIONAL" OBJECTIONS TO CATHOLICS IN 
RUSSIA.  IN THE MEANTIME THE VATICAN WOULD CONTINUE TO 
MINISTER TO THE FAITHFUL AS BEST IT COULD.  VEGLIO IMPLIED IT 
WOULD BE DECADES, NOT YEARS, BEFORE THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX 
WOULD COME AROUND TO THIS VIEW. 
 
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THE CHALLENGE FROM ISLAM 
------------------------ 
 
4.  (C)  TURNING TO THE MIDDLE EAST, VEGLIO OBSERVED THAT THE 
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MUSLIM COUNTRIES POSED AN EVEN GREATER CHALLENGE.  VEGLIO, 
WHO RECENTLY RETURNED TO THE HOLY SEE AFTER SERVING AS NUNCIO 
IN BEIRUT, ASSERTED THAT ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM, CENTERED ON 
SUDAN, THREATENED THE GOOD RELATIONSHIP THAT HAS HERETOFORE 
EXISTED BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 
(REF B).  HE WAS PARTICULARLY CONCERNED THAT THE YOUNGER, 
MORE MODERN, SECULAR AND USUALLY CHRISTIAN PEOPLE IN THE ARAB 
MIDDLE EAST ARE GIVING UP ON THEIR COUNTRIES AND EMIGRATING. 
HE SAID THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES HAVE BEEN DECIMATED BY THIS 
EMIGRATION, WHICH IS SOMETHING "THE MUSLIMS WANT."  IN A 
REFRESHINGLY FRANK ADMISSION, VEGLIO SAID THAT, AS NUNCIO, HE 
HAD PRESSURED BEIRUT TO LEGALIZE CIVIL MARRIAGES (MUCH TO THE 
CHAGRIN OF HIS BISHOPS).  HE ARGUED THAT PEOPLE IN MIDDLE 
EASTERN STATES SHOULD HAVE THE "MODERN" OPTION OF BEING 
SECULAR, WHICH MAKES FOR A BETTER POLITY THAN DOES THEOCRACY. 
 HE SAID IN MANY ARAB STATES THE CONSTITUTION IS EFFECTIVELY 
THE KORAN.  "GOVERNMENTS SHOULD NO MORE HAVE THE BIBLE THAN 
THE KORAN AS THEIR CONSTITUTION" IF COUNTRIES IN THE REGION 
WERE TO MOVE TOWARD GENUINE DEMOCRATIC AND TOLERANT 
GOVERNMENTS, HE ASSERTED. 
 
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                           CONFIDENTIAL     PTQ3036 
 
PAGE 01        VATICA  03692  02 OF 02  261100Z 
ACTION EUR-00 
 
INFO  LOG-00   NP-00    AF-00    AMAD-00  ACQ-00   CIAE-00  DODE-00 
      DS-00    FBIE-00  VC-00    TEDE-00  INR-00   VCE-00   AC-01 
      NEA-00   NSAE-00  ACE-00   SS-00    SA-00    DSCC-00  DRL-02 
      SAS-00     /003W 
                  ------------------D08EDC  261100Z /38 
R 261054Z JUL 02 
FM AMEMBASSY VATICAN 
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 
INFO ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE 
EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE 
AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 
AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 
 
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 02 OF 02 VATICAN 003692 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/WE (MENUTTI); DRL/IRF (FARR) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2012 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, KIRF, RS, IN, IS, UP, VT 
SUBJECT: EASTERN CHURCHES UNDER STRESS WHERE CHURCH/STATE 
SEPARATION IS WEAK 
 
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UKRAINE AND INDIA:  ISLANDS OF GROWTH 
------------------------------------- 
 
5.  (C)  ONLY IN UKRAINE AND INDIA ARE THE EASTERN RITE 
CHURCHES VIGOROUS AND GROWING, DESPITE HINDRANCES, VEGLIO 
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PAGE 02        VATICA  03692  02 OF 02  261100Z 
NOTED.  THE GREEK RITE CATHOLICS ARE SUCCESSFULLY RECOVERING 
PROPERTIES CONFISCATED BY STALIN AND GIVEN, IN MANY CASES, TO 
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES.  VEGLIO AVERRED THAT THE STRONG 
PRESENCE OF THIS CHURCH IN UKRAINE BEFORE WORLD WAR II, AND 
THE STRONG SUPPORT OF ITS FAITHFUL IN THE U.S. AND ELSEWHERE 
IN THE WEST, HAVE GIVEN IT AN ADVANTAGE.  TWO MEASURES OF ITS 
CONFIDENCE ARE THE INTENT BY ARCHBISHOP MAJOR LUBOMYR TO MOVE 
HIS SEE FROM LVOV TO KIEV AND THE UKRAINIAN CHURCH'S PRESSURE 
ON THE HOLY SEE TO RAISE ITS STATUS TO THAT OF A FULL 
PATRIARCHATE. (NOTE: THIS WOULD PUT IT ON A PAR WITH THE 
RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN PATRIARCHATES OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN 
KIEV). 
 
6.  (C)  THE SYRO-MALABAR AND SYRO-MALANKARA CHURCHES ARE 
REPUTED TO HAVE A 2,000-YEAR PRESENCE IN SOUTHERN INDIA, 
ORIGINATING, ACCORDING TO VEGLIO, FROM THE VISIT OF SAINT 
THOMAS THE APOSTLE.  THESE CHURCHES ARE THRIVING EVEN AS 
CHRISTIANS SUFFER PERSECUTION IN HINDU-NATIONALIST PARTS OF 
INDIA.  VEGLIO PLANS A VISIT TO THOSE CHURCHES AND TO THE 
MIDDLE EAST IN THE NEAR FUTURE. 
 
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COMMENT 
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7.  (C) IN ADDITION TO ITS PASTORAL WORK, THE CONGREGATION 
FOR EASTERN CHURCHES IS ACTIVE IN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT WORK. 
IT IS FUNDED BY THE HOLY SEE AND BY DONATIONS FROM WEALTHY 
CHURCHES IN EUROPE AND THE U.S.  ON THE SUBJECT OF THE MIDDLE 
EAST, VEGLIO OBSERVED THAT THE MIXING OF STATE AND RELIGION 
ALSO CAUSED PROBLEMS IN ISRAEL, WHICH HE NOTED WAS THE ONLY 
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PAGE 03        VATICA  03692  02 OF 02  261100Z 
COUNTRY IN THE REGION WITH "DEMOCRATIC ASPECTS."  THE 
CONGREGATION, AS ELSEWHERE IN THE HOLY SEE IS DEEPLY TROUBLED 
BY ISRAELI POLICIES VIS-A-VIS THE PALESTINIANS.  THE 
CONGREGATION WILL REMAIN ACTIVE IN SEEKING TO SUPPORT THE 
PALESTINIANS AS A MEANS OF PRESERVING THE REMNANTS OF THE 
CATHOLIC PRESENCE IN THE REGION. 
HARDT 
 
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 2002VATICA03692 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL