Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) is to attend the canonization of late British cardinal John Henry Newman and four others on Oct. 13 in the Vatican City, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Chen, who has been designated by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as her special envoy, is to depart Taiwan on Thursday next week and head an 11-member delegation to the Holy See, during which he is expected to meet with Pope Francis, the ministry said.
Francis plans to individually receive the heads of all delegations before or after the canonization ceremony, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kelly Hsieh (謝武樵) said.
During Chen’s four-day visit, he plans to invite the pope to visit Taiwan, he said.
Chen is also scheduled to inspect Taiwan’s embassy in the Holy See, attend an arts exhibition being held there, meet with priests and nuns who have served in Taiwan, and visit a number of holy sites, Hsieh added.
On Oct. 13, Francis is to canonize Newman, a 19th-century British theologian and poet; Indian sister Marian Thresia, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family; Italian sister Giuseppina Vannini; Brazilian sister Dulce Lopes Pontes; and Marguerite Bays, a Swiss consecrated virgin of the Third Order of St Francis.
Chen’s visit to the Vatican, Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Europe, is to be his third since he took office in May 2016. He attended the canonization of Mother Teresa in September 2016 and Pope Paul VI in October last year.
Chen was made a knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 2010 and a knight of the Order of St Gregory the Great in 2013, in recognition of his efforts in the battle against SARS in 2003 and his academic achievements.
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