Taipei, July 19 (CNA) Taiwan's ambassador to the Vatican Matthew Lee (李世明) on Saturday expressed his condolences over the death of Polish Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, who had promoted academic cooperation between Taiwan and the Vatican.
Grocholewski passed away on Friday at the age of 80. He was born on Oct. 11, 1939 and ordained a priest on May 27, 1963.
Lee, who attended the memorial mass for Grocholewski at St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday, told CNA that he bade his last farewell to Grocholewski with a sorrowful heart, adding that he was grateful for what Grocholewski had done to promote Taiwan-Vatican relations.
According to people close to the late cardinal, who had visited Taiwan twice, he had a good impression of Taiwan and mentioned Taiwan frequently during conversations, Lee said.
He visited Taiwan in 2003 and 2011 when he was Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education in Vatican.
On the second visit to Taiwan, Grocholewski signed an agreement on mutual recognition of university degrees between universities in Taiwan and ecclesiastical universities around the world linked to the Holy See.
