The nation’s embassy in the Vatican has donated two Taiwanese-made electric bicycles to the Holy See to promote green energy there.
The donation was made to the Section for Migrants and Refugees of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and the section’s managers, fathers Fabio Baggio and Michael Czerny, accepted the bicycles at a ceremony on Monday.
Taiwan’s electric bicycles are of very good quality, Czerny said, adding that he intends to ride one to and from work.
He also pledged to show the eco-friendly bikes to other church members as he rides through the streets of Rome, Czerny said.
Pope Francis in Laudato si’, his second encyclical, expressed the hope that nations will pay attention to protecting the environment and developing green energy, Taiwan’s Ambassador to the Vatican Matthew Lee (李世明) said.
In response to the pope’s appeal, the embassy has for the second consecutive donated electric bicycles to members of the Vatican to contribute to a better environment, Lee said.
The first donation was made in August last year by Taiwanese automobile repair plant Daw Cheng Automobile Industry, while this year’s donation was sponsored by scooter and motorcycle manufacturing company Kwang Yang Motor Co (KYMCO).
Baggio said he used to ride KYMCO motorcycles when he was preaching in the Philippines, adding that he was surprised to have the opportunity to ride a KYMCO electric bicycle in the Holy See.
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