Vatican City, Nov 10, 2008 / 09:48 am
At the Vatican on Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI received a new ambassador from Taiwan and welcomed the recent "positive developments" in relations between mainland China and Taiwan.
The Pope began his English-language remarks to the Ambassador Wang Larry Yu-yuan by asking him to relay his congratulations to Taiwan’s first Catholic president, Ma Ying-jeou, who was sworn into office on May 20, 2008.
Pope Benedict went on to praise the "Government in Taipei" for its "keen sense of belonging to a world community, a global human family," which he said the Taiwanese people demonstrate through their willingness to help those in need, especially poorer nations.
Sizing up the Catholic community in Taiwan, Benedict XVI remarked that although Catholics "represent little more than one per cent of the population, they are eager to play their part in building up a society that is humane, just, and marked by genuine concern for the welfare of the weaker members of the community."