May 26, 2016
No. 130
His Eminence Giuseppe Cardinal Versaldi, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education of the Holy See, is visiting the Republic of China from May 26 to 30. His Eminence is in Taiwan to attend the international conference “Inculturation of the Catholic Church, the Third Millennium Agenda” at Fu Jen Catholic University, where he will give a keynote speech.
During his visit, Cardinal Versaldi will have an audience with President Tsai Ing-wen and a breakfast meeting with Vice President Chen Chien-jen. His Eminence will also attend a luncheon hosted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. David Tawei Lee, call on Political Deputy Minister of Education Chen Liang-gee, receive an honorary doctorate from Fu Jen Catholic University, attend the National Eucharistic Congress in Changhua and a mass at the Holy Family Church Taipei, as well as visit Taipei 101 and the National Palace Museum.
The ROC and the Holy See enjoy long-standing and well-established diplomatic relations, which are entering their 74th year this year. The two sides signed an Agreement on Collaboration in the Field of Higher Education and on the Recognition of Studies, Qualifications, Diplomas and Degrees in 2011, the first official accord to be signed between the two sides since diplomatic ties were established in 1942. Cardinal Versaldi hopes to use this trip to discuss extending the scope of the agreement to cover elementary and secondary education, so as to further deepen bilateral cooperation and exchanges.
Cooperative exchanges between Taiwan and the Holy See have remained close in recent years. The National Palace Museum and the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff collaborated on holding the exhibition “Treasures from Heaven—A Special Exhibition of Artifacts from the Holy See” in Taipei from February to May this year. Archbishop Piero Marini, President of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses, was assigned to lead a delegation to attend the opening ceremony. In addition, the Holy See also sent H.E. The Most Reverend Archbishop Joseph Chennoth, Apostolic Nuncio to Japan, to attend the inauguration of the 14th-term president and vice president of the Republic of China as its special envoy, and extend Pope Francis’s congratulations.
Cardinal Versaldi was appointed President of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See and promoted to archbishop on September 21, 2011, by Pope Benedict XVI, who created him a cardinal on February 18, 2012. Pope Francis appointed His Eminence, a former canon law professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University and a man of profound erudition, to his current position on March 31, 2015. (E)