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)