Taiwan’s former Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) attended the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Thursday. Chen arrived in Rome on Wednesday as a special envoy of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Chen was met at the airport by Taiwan’s Ambassador to the Holy See Matthew Lee (李世明) and later gave a speech at Taiwan’s embassy. He praised Benedict’s cross-cultural and lasting contributions to the world and said he felt great sadness for his funeral. The former pope served from 2005 to 2013.
Chen also met with multiple Vatican officials during his visit. Those included meetings with the Catholic Church’s Archivist and Librarian Angelo Vincenzo Zani and Cardinal Peter Turkson.
Chen is a devout Roman Catholic. In 2021 he was named as a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The Vatican is one of 14 countries maintaining official diplomatic relations with Taiwan.