Former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) expressed hope on Saturday that President William Lai (賴清德) would be invited to the inauguration of the next pope, after attending the late Pope Francis’ funeral as Lai’s envoy.
Pope Francis’ funeral was held on Saturday morning in St Peter’s Square, where an estimated 250,000 people had gathered over the past three days to pay their respects to the late pontiff, who passed away on Monday last week at the age of 88.
About 163 delegations attended the ceremony, including 12 reigning monarchs, 42 heads of state, six deputy heads of state, six parliamentary speakers and representatives from nine UN organizations, the Vatican said.
Photo: CNA
After attending the two-hour funeral, Chen said he arrived slightly early, approached former US president Joe Biden and had a brief conversation with him.
While Biden was US vice president during former US president Barack Obama’s administration from 2009 to 2017, he was responsible for launching the “Cancer Moonshot Initiative” to fight cancer, Chen said.
Chen, who was then vice president of Taiwan’s top academic research institution, Academia Sinica, told Biden that Academia Sinica had also joined the Cancer Moonshot Initiative and that both sides were continuing their cooperation on the project.
In response, Biden told him: “Go, go, go, keep it going,” Chen said.
Chen said he also thanked Biden for his administration’s efforts in finalizing the “US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade,” with the first agreement under the initiative taking effect late last year.
In addition to his conversations with Biden and Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya, Chen said he had the opportunity to engage in cordial exchanges with the heads of delegations from Paraguay and Guatemala — two of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — as well as with several cardinals and clergy members before and during the funeral.
Aside from expressing hope that the late pope would continue to bless Taiwan’s diplomatic relations with the Vatican, Chen said he sincerely hoped that Lai could represent Taiwan at the upcoming papal inauguration once a new pope is selected.
The conclave to elect the next pope is expected to begin between Tuesday next week and May 11.
When Pope Francis was inaugurated in 2013, then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) attended the ceremony.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that Chen’s appointment as envoy was the result of discussions between Taipei and the Holy See, but did not elaborate on why Lai would not attend the funeral in person.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) on Wednesday said that Chen was “the best choice under the current circumstances,” citing his Catholic faith and personal ties with the late pope as the main reasons.
Chen had met with Pope Francis on six occasions and was selected as an academician of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 2021, the ministry said.
Wu, who accompanied Chen on his trip to the Vatican, said that attending the late pope’s funeral provided Taiwan with a rare international occasion.
“This is a global meeting and our participation has demonstrated that Taiwan is part of the world,” Wu said.
The Holy See is the only UN member in Europe that has formal diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan. Formal diplomatic ties were established in 1942, when the ROC government was still based in China.
However, the Vatican’s relations with Beijing have warmed since Pope Francis assumed the papacy in 2013.
In 2018, the Vatican and Beijing reached a historic agreement to collaborate on the appointment of Chinese bishops, a deal that was extended for a third time in late last year.
Tensions have since emerged, as Beijing has contravened the agreement by unilaterally appointing bishops without Vatican approval.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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