Papal envoy Cardinal Paul Cordes yesterday dismissed media speculation that he was here to convey a message to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on behalf of the pope during his meeting with Ma on Friday.
“I don't go there to give a message,” Cordes said, while fielding questions from reporters after a press conference detailing the spiritual exercises of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which coordinates Catholic charities, at Fu Jen Catholic University in Taipei.
“I would like to listen to him and take account of his sorrow,” Cordes said, adding that he could not give any political advice to the president.
Cordes arrived in Taiwan over the weekend and traveled to disaster-hit southern Taiwan on Sunday to attend a mass at a Catholic church in Kaohsiung, where he conveyed Pope Benedict XVI's concern for survivors of one of the deadliest typhoons in Taiwan in half a century.
While visiting disaster areas, Cordes said he was impressed with the number of volunteers assisting the victims.
He said the catastrophe had awakened the spirit of “selflessness” and encouraged the public to help those in need.
He said that although experiencing disasters was painful, the love between human beings was endless.
“It was very touching to see the faces of those suffering,” Cordes said.
University president Bernard Li (黎建球) said the Church's choice of Taipei as the location for the spiritual exercises after the flooding in southern Taiwan showed the Catholic church's love for Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Cordes said the pope was unlikely to visit Taiwan unless his age and health condition permitted.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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