The Reverend Franz Burkhardt, a recipient of presidential and papal honors for his services to Taiwan over almost half a century, died early yesterday morning. He was 101.
A statement released by the Sacred Heart Home for the Severely Retarded, which Burkhardt founded in 1980 in Chiayi, said that he had died of respiratory failure.
Burkhardt was admitted to the St. Martin de Por Hospital in Chiayi with pneumonia in March.
He was transferred to the Cardinal Tien Hospital on May 29 after being found to also be suffering from pleural effusion.
Following his death, Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲)yesterday reiterated a promise that his ministry would do its best to facilitate the building of a center for the care of severely handicapped adults which Father Burkhardt and Sacred Heart Home had planned.
"We'll progress the case as a special program, and complete the center's establishment as soon as we can," Yu told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Burkhardt, a native of Basel, Switzerland, was a missionary of the Society of Jesus.
He moved from China to Taiwan in 1953.
For his half-century contribution to the nation, Burkhardt received the Order of the Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon (
At the age of 100, Burkhardt was awarded by Pope John Pul II with the Order of St. Gregory Gold Cross Star, which was presented to him by a Holy See envoy in Taiwan.
Burkhardt and the Sacred Heart Home had raised approximately NT$10 million to build a center for severely handicapped adults in Putzu township, Chiayi County but its preferred site for the center is owned by Taiwan Sugar Corporation (Taisugar) and priced at approximately NT$40 million.
Yu proposed yesterday that Sacred Heart consider leasing the land from Taisugar, which stated last month that it was prepared to lease the land to the home.
"It would be very cheap to lease the land, and the MOI will offer some NT$60 million in construction subsidies and facilitate administrative procedures," Yu said.
The ministry's regulations regarding subsidies for the development of social welfare services do not allow for funds for land purchases or leasing.
But Yu said that the government would make an exception in this case.
"Both former premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Chen promised in a visit to the father at the end of last month that the government would assist in the building of the center.
Liu Chen-wan (
Liu added that ministry officials had arranged an appointment to discuss the matter with them today, after Yu's remark yesterday.
An official from Taisugar, surnamed Liu, said that the matter is to be submitted to its board shortly.
Yu had asked Taisugar, during a visit to Burkhardt in hospital last month at which he granted the priest permanent residency, to study the possibility of either leasing or selling the land at below market price.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS