President Ma Ying-jeou met on the evening of May 21 with papal envoy and Apostolic Nuncio to Korea Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla at the Presidential Office. Archbishop Padilla was in Taiwan to attend the inauguration ceremonies for the 13th-term president and vice president of the ROC. Also attending the meeting were Vice President Wu Den-yih and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tung Kuoyu (董國猷).
In remarks, the president welcomed and thanked Archbishop Padilla for making a special trip to Taiwan on behalf of The Holy See to attend the inauguration ceremonies.
President Ma commented that this visit to Taipei by Archbishop Padilla, who is from the Philippines, should feel almost like a “return home,” since there are presently 83,000 Filipinos working in Taiwan. The president said that Philippine citizens can be everywhere in Taiwan, and make an enormous contribution to social development.
The president stated that since taking office four years ago, he has been extremely proactive in striving to improve cross-strait relations and promote peace in the Taiwan Strait. This, he said, corresponds to the message of the Pope in his annual Message for the celebration of the World Day of Peace. In addition, the government last year began opening Taiwan's doors to students from mainland China to further enhance cross-strait ties. The total number of mainland Chinese students and tourists who visit Taiwan each year stands at about two million. Whether they come here for tourism or to pursue their studies, once they understand Taiwan society, they come to have quite a positive impression of Taiwan, he said. This helps further resolve the animosity between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and thereby brings greater peace and prosperity, he added.
The president also told Archbishop Padilla that since he was young, he has had many opportunities to attend Catholic prayer services in Taipei's Wanhua District, and therefore has a certain level of understanding of Catholicism. President Ma said that last year he went to Kaohsiung on Christmas Eve to attend Midnight Mass given by His Eminence Cardinal Paul Shan Kuo-Hsi, S. J. The president commented that the Catholic Church has had a presence in Taiwan for over 150 years and has assisted the government in caring for the underprivileged, thus making an enormous contribution to Taiwan society. The president said he would like to specially extend his gratitude for this, and also expressed his hope that Archbishop Padilla would take advantage of his visit to gain a further understanding of the development of the Catholic Church here, as well as the role that the ROC is playing in many countries throughout the world as a provider of humanitarian aid.
President Ma mentioned that Confucius wrote "Friendship should involve give-and-take on both sides." He noted that over the past four years he has met with a number of guests from The Holy See and has maintained correspondence on occasion with Pope Benedict XVI. President Ma said he hopes in the future to have an opportunity to visit The Vatican and to have an audience with The Pope to express the gratitude of the people of Taiwan for the contributions of the Catholic Church to Taiwan.