Taipei, Taiwan, Mar 30, 2006 / 22:00 pm
Following a meeting with the Vatican’s representative in Taiwan, Archbishop Ambrosio Matha, Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Relations, Huang Chih Fang expressed his confidence that the Holy See “will not abandon Taiwanese Catholics.”
According to the Fides news agency, Huang said the Taiwanese government requested the meeting because of recent statements by the Vatican’s top foreign-relations official, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, who said “the time has come for establishing diplomatic ties with China.”
Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Huang said the Vatican is studying the China-Taiwan situation “from the point of view of its concern for Catholics and not for political considerations.”
Asked about whether Archbishop Matha guaranteed the maintaining of current bilateral relations, Huang said, “The Holy see values the rights of Catholics and religious freedom. It will not abandon the 300,000 Taiwanese Catholics for the 8 million Catholics in China. The Holy See has clearly said its principal concern is the rights of Catholics.”