Former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) attended Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural Mass at the Vatican yesterday morning as President William Lai’s (賴清德) special envoy to see the new pope installed as leader of 1.4 billion Roman Catholics.
Chen joined more than 100 world leaders and top church officials in St Peter’s Square to witness the event, including US Vice President J.D. Vance, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The Vatican is one of 12 states in the world to have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Photo: Screen grab from the Taiwanese Embassy to the Holy See’s Facebook page
Before attending yesterday’s ceremony, Chen, who arrived in Rome on Saturday afternoon along with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中), said that he was instructed by Lai to extend the president’s sincere congratulations to Leo on his papacy.
Lai wishes that Taiwan and the Vatican can continue to strengthen their friendship and together work toward world peace and social justice, and provide better care for minority groups, Chen said.
Lai also wanted to express his wish to the pope that Taiwan and the Vatican can have more cooperation in humanitarian aid, and together cherish the universal values of freedom, democracy and rule of law, Chen said.
Chen and Wu also attended a Mass at Sant’Anselmo all’Aventino on Saturday focused on peace and prosperity in Taiwan.
The Mass was presided over by Bishop of Hsinchu John Lee (李克勉), Bishop of Taichung Martin Su (蘇耀文), Auxiliary Bishop of Taipei Peter Chao (趙永吉), Taiwanese priests in Italy Hsu Chien-bon (徐千邦) and Wu Men-che (吳孟哲), and Japanese priest Masatomo Yamaguchi, who lived in Taiwan for many years.
Chen, a Catholic, said the Mass first prayed for Leo, expressing hopes that he would lead the Vatican, Catholic churches around the world and friendly countries to work together to take care of workers, migrants, refugees and minorities.
He said he hoped the Vatican would be valued by the world under Leo’s guidance, becoming a guiding force for morality and peace.
The second focus of the Mass prayed for Taiwan’s peace and stability, hoping everyone in Taiwan would get along with each other and help each other to make the nation more prosperous and play a critical role in the stability and peace in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as for mutual prosperity of like-minded countries, he said.
The Mass also prayed for all bishops, clergy and church members, hoping that Catholicism would flourish in Taiwan, and for improvements in education, culture, healthcare and care for the less priviledged, he said.
The last part of the Mass prayed for diplomats at the Vatican, hoping they can serve as a bridge between Taiwan and the Holy See to strengthen friendship and enhance communications, he said.
“Of course, we hope one day the pope could visit Taiwan so that all Catholics in Taiwan can feel the love the pope has toward Taiwan,” he said.
While attending the Mass, Chen and Wu wore a pin that read: “Team Taiwan” on their suits, while Chen’s wife, Lo Feng-ping (羅鳳蘋), wore a jacket with the word “Taiwan” printed on it.
Showing his pin, Chen said Taiwan needs to become a very strong team and all parties should become united as a team in international events.
Taiwan also hopes to become a democratic team with other friendly countries, and work toward world peace, economic prosperity, and take care of the underprivileged together, he added.
Wu said he believes Taiwan has always been blessed by God, and although he has always felt that Taiwan faced many challenges in maintaining friendship with its ally, the Vatican, they have overcome all of them so far.
Taiwan should be more confident of itself, as the nation’s image in the world has become very different in the past few years, he said, adding that just as Catholic church was suppressed during the Roman Empire, but became accepted by more people, Taiwan is becoming a legend as a small country that has survived the Chinese Communist Party’s suppression and is now thriving.
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