TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A delegation from Yunlin County’s 330-year-old Beigang Chao Tian Temple will meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican next week, reports said Thursday (Sept. 19).

Tsai Yung-te (蔡咏鍀), chair of the temple, was boarding a flight to Rome Thursday evening, with the meeting scheduled for Wednesday (Sept. 25), per CNA. He drew a parallel between the goddess Mazu and the Virgin Mary, saying that despite their different cultural backgrounds, they both represented mercy, love, and peace.

Tsai took a golden statue of Mazu valued at NT$120,000 (US$3,700) and a jade statue of the same deity as presents for Pope Francis. As a safety precaution, the works of art will be stored at the embassy at the Vatican, Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Europe.

The trip symbolizes the possibility of stepping across boundaries and bridging differences, according to Tsai. The celebrations for 330 years of the temple in Beigang have already seen delegations to San Francisco, Houston, and New York in May.