President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday paid his respects to Pope Francis during a visit to the Catholic Archdiocese of Taipei, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) would act as Lai’s envoy to the pope’s funeral.
Lai, who was accompanied by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and Archbishop of Taipei Thomas Chung (鍾安住), offered incense, sprinkled holy water, and presented flowers, fruit and a ceremonial cup, before taking three bows.
Following Francis’ death on Monday, Lai offered his condolences on social media, saying that “we will continue to draw inspiration from [Francis’] lifelong commitment to peace, global solidarity, and caring for those in need.”
Photo: Screen grab from the Presidential Office’s Flickr page
Pope Francis died of a stroke and subsequent heart failure at his residence at the age of 88, the Vatican said.
The Holy See is one of 12 states in the world that have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan and the only one in Europe.
Previous Taiwanese presidents have joined world leaders in participating in key papal events, including then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) at the inauguration of Pope Francis in 2013.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwanese Embassy to the Holy See
Ma’s predecessor, Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005.
Lai yesterday did not respond to media questions on whether he would attend the pope’s funeral at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City in person on Saturday.
Wu had previously told reporters that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was “still in talks” with the Vatican on the matter.
He acknowledged that the Holy See might have “certain concerns” and declined to elaborate.
Later yesterday, the ministry said in a statement that Lai had appointed Chen Chien-jen as his envoy to attend Francis’ funeral.
Chen Chien-jen’s appointment of to the pope’s funeral in the Vatican City was made following discussions with the Holy See, it said.
It also cited Chien-jen’s previous meetings with Pope Francis on six occasions and his role as an academician of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences as reflecting the close relationship between the two sides.
Wu did not respond directly to media questions at an event in Taipei about whether Beijing had pressured the Holy See to not allow Lai himself to attend the funeral in person.
Wu emphasized that Chen Chien-jen, who served as vice president alongside former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) from 2016 to 2020, was “the best choice under the current circumstances.”
The Holy See and China do not have diplomatic relations, but the two sides in 2018 signed a historic agreement on the appointment of bishops in China.
While the Vatican said at the time said that the deal was not political, some Western media outlets reported it as a sign of warming ties between the two.
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