Taiwan is expected to send a high-level delegation to the Vatican following the death of Pope Francis at age 88. Ahead of his funeral on Saturday, tributes for the pontiff are pouring in from around the world, including from Taipei.
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00:00The late Pope Francis mourned around the world and here in Taiwan by the country's Catholic
00:13community. They've come together to commemorate Francis, a church reformer who died of a stroke
00:19aged 88. His followers have been holding mass and praying together, offering each other comfort.
00:30They really love this church. Some of us say that death is not aåę¢, it is a transformation of life.
00:46We believe that the church is together with us.
00:53Taiwan is home to around 300,000 Catholics, and the Vatican holds diplomatic importance
01:04here too. It's the only state in Europe to recognise Taiwan as a country rather than China.
01:11The Prime Minister says it will send representatives to the Pope's funeral, but hasn't yet said who.
01:32Top Taiwanese officials are expected to come here to the Archdiocese in central Taipei to pay their respects.
01:39Taiwan is keen not just to honour the late Pope, but to maintain relations with the Vatican, one of its 12 remaining allies.
01:48Those ties go back more than 70 years and have survived closer exchanges between the Vatican and Beijing in recent years.
01:57Vatican observers say that even with a new Pope, the Holy See is unlikely to break ties with Taiwan.
02:05Despite we will have a new Pope from Europe, from Africa or from Asia, we can expect that the church will follow its institutional decisions
02:18to maintain the relationship with Taiwan and also under these circumstances to strengthen their relationship or to build out their new relationship with China.
02:30For the mourners here, it's a time of quiet reflection to mark the passing of a spiritual leader who led the Catholic Church for 12 years,
02:41earning admiration for his commitment to the poor and marginalised.
02:46Patrick Chen, Klein-Wong and Louise Watt for Taiwan Plus.
02:51Patrick Dean, Klein-Wong andachi one of the people who are lucky with China might Natasha Romana rhetorically