President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of December 1 with His Eminence Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education in the Holy See, at the Presidential Office. The president expressed his support for the signing of the Agreement Between the Ministry of Education of the Republic of China and the Congregation for Catholic Education of the Holy See on Collaboration in the Field of Higher Education and on the Recognition of Studies, Qualifications, Diplomas and Degrees, adding that this marks an important milestone in academic cooperation between the two sides. President Ma also asked Cardinal Grocholewski to convey the friendship of the people of the ROC to the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI once he returns to The Vatican, and said the ROC hopes to continue to strengthen mutual relations.
The president first thanked Cardinal Grocholewski for proactively promoting the signing of the agreement. He pointed out that the pact will help to forge links between Taiwan's educational institutions and those around the world, and will also strengthen the ROC's push to serve as a standard-bearer of Chinese culture in the international community.
The president recalled that 30 years ago when he served as former President Chiang Ching-kuo's interpreter, one of his most important jobs was to prepare the response to the Pope's annual prayer for world peace that is delivered on January 1. Consequently, the Pope's longstanding commitment to world peace has made a deep impression on him. That is why, since he took office in May 2008, he has sought to forge peace between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Efforts in this regard have already yielded initial results, and rays of peace have emerged in the Taiwan Strait. President Ma also stated that the Holy Father's calls over the years for world peace demonstrate that peace is a universal value, and the Holy Father's efforts have won him worldwide respect and praise.
President Ma furthermore stated that Taiwan recently has scored very high in various international competitiveness surveys, and is also making every effort to be involved in international humanitarian assistance, as demonstrated by the aid that Taiwan provided to Haiti after it suffered a devastating earthquake last year, and to Japan after it suffered from multiple disasters in March of this year. In the future, the government will continue to work to improve the standard of living and will seek to play the role of "peacemaker." It will also keep in mind the Pope's call for people to involve themselves in humanitarian assistance work.
Also included in the delegation of visitors meeting the president were Archbishop Savio Tai-Fai Hon (韓大輝), Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and Cardinal Paul Shan Kuo-hsi S. J. (單國璽), Bishop emeritus of Kaohsiung (Taiwan). The president congratulated Archbishop Hon for being promoted this year to the position of Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and for receiving an honorary doctorate of philosophy from Fu Jen Catholic University in Taipei. The president also remarked that Cardinal Shan continues to champion the value of life and the importance of morality, and stated that these efforts have afforded the people of Taiwan a deeper understanding of the Catholic faith.
The visitors were accompanied to the Presidential Office by Minister of Education Wu Ching-ji (吳清基) and Deputy Foreign Minister Lyushun Shen (沈呂巡) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chih-kung Liu (劉志攻).