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 aĺć˘, 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
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