Vice President Wu Den-yih and his wife attended the canonization of the late Popes John Paul II and John XXIII on Sunday, at the Vatican.
Millions of people traveled to the Vatican to celebrate the event, a four-hour ceremony which was presided over by Pope Francis.
Vice President Wu was attending the ceremony on behalf of President Ma Ying-jeou. The vice president was seated in the first row, and spoke briefly with the pope following the event.
Wu also passed on a congratulatory message from the president to the pope, via Taiwanese diplomats stationed in the Vatican. The Vatican is the only country in Europe with which the Republic of China on Taiwan has official diplomatic ties.
The vice president also brought a gift from Taiwan: a commissioned painting of the pope by a well-known female artist from Taiwan Liang Dan-feng.