TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan’s envoy to the funeral of Pope Francis, former Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), said Friday he was praying daily for President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) to attend the inauguration of the next Pope.

The Vatican is Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Europe, but the country is sending the former vice president to attend Saturday’s funeral, as he was a practicing Catholic who met the late pontiff six times. Pope Francis died on April 21, the day after Easter, at the age of 88.

After arriving in Rome on Friday morning with Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu (吳志中), Chen and his delegation went to Saint Peter’s Basilica to pay their respects to the late Pope, per CNA. In an interview after the visit, he said he would respect the arrangements made by the Vatican regarding meetings with other delegations.

Prominent world leaders invited to the funeral included US President Donald Trump, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Chen said the Vatican and Italian authorities were still arranging the visits of 160 delegations, so it was not possible to tell whom he might meet.

He hoped the new Pope would continue and improve the 83-year-old official relationship with Taiwan. The two sides could cooperate in promoting global and regional peace and stability, he added.