Antoine Henri Marie Pierrot, a Catholic priest from the Netherlands who devoted most of his life to Taiwan, on Friday died in Yunlin County at the age of 96.
“Please join us in praying for the repose of the soul of Father Antoine Henri Marie Pierrot S.A.M, who was called home to heaven this morning at 4am at St Joseph’s Hospital in Huwei [虎尾], Yunlin County,” the hospital wrote on Facebook.
Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) expressed his condolences and urged the public to follow Pierrot’s lead and use love to make Taiwan a better place.
Photo copied by Liao Shu-ling, Taipei Times
Pierrot, who came to Taiwan in 1954 aged 31, established St Joseph’s Hospital in 1956 with Belgian priest Georges Massin to take care of poor people in remote rural areas.
To raise funds for the hospital, Pierrot went to preach in the US for 10 years before returning to Taiwan in 1970.
Since then, he devoted his entire life to the hospital and looked after people in need from Yunlin and elsewhere.
In addition to establishing a healthcare network to serve people in the central and coastal areas of western Taiwan, Pierrot also founded the St Joseph Social Welfare Foundation, a charity.
He was awarded medals by presidents, the government and charity groups, including the Alien Permanent Resident Lifelong Contribution Award from the Ministry of the Interior in 2011 and the Order of Brilliant Star with Violet Grand Cordon from then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in 2015.
Pierrot’s life and work was connected to Yunlin for more than 60 years, and he often said he viewed Taiwan as his homeland and described himself as Taiwanese.
A keen photographer, Pierrot took many photographs of ordinary people and life in rural Taiwan.
An exhibition of his photographs taken between 1954 and 1984 was held in Douliu (斗六), the county seat, in 2016.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS