A dozen foreign priests, nuns, missionaries and pastors were honored at the Presidential Office Building yesterday for their decades of dedicated service to Taiwan.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) conferred the Order of Brilliant Star with Violet Grand Cordon to each of the 12 religious workers, saying that their work had brought serenity and peace to Taiwan.
On behalf of the public, Ma expressed his deepest gratitude to the honorees for their service in the areas of education, charity and social service.
According to the Presidential Office, the 12 religious workers have each served for at least 40 years in Taiwan, and one of them, 102-year-old Canadian priest Etienne Georges Beauregard, has been in Taiwan for 68 years.
At the ceremony, Ma highlighted their achievements, including the establishment of St Joseph’s Hospital in Yunlin County, which was cofounded by Dutch priest Antoine Pierrot 60 years ago.
Pierrot often drove the hospital’s ambulance and helped fix medical equipment in the facility, Ma said.
Responding on behalf of the honorees, Pierrot thanked the president for bestowing “such a great honor” on them.
The other honorees are nuns Theresa Kastner of the Netherlands and Miljenka Schnetzer of Sweden; US missionary Juanelva Rose; US pastors David Alexander and Daniel Freeman; and priests Brendan O’Connel of the US, Andres Diaz de Rabago of Spain, Yves Moal of France and Gian Carlo Michelini and Giovanni Rizz of Italy.
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