Pope Francis Doom Novena! Pope Welcomes New Taiwanese Ambassador And 13 Days Later 6.4 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Taiwan Hundreds Feared Dead!

23 JANUARY 2016

Pope welcomes new Taiwanese ambassador

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday welcomed in the Vatican the new ambassador of Taiwan, Matthew S.M. Lee‎. At a formal ceremony, Lee presented the Pope his credentials at the start of his diplomatic mission with the Holy See.

The Holy See maintains diplomatic ties with Taiwan, officially called the Republic of China (ROC), which mainland China, officially known as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) regards as its renegade territory. In 1951, Communist China, which is officially an atheist state, ‎expelled foreign missionaries, severed ‎diplomatic relations with the ‎Holy See and by 1957 set up its own church - the Chinese Patriotic Catholic ‎Association - in defiance of ‎the Rome-based Catholic Church headed by the Pope. But the Holy See continued to recognize Taipei as the legitimate Chinese government. One of the conditions set by Beijing in re-establishing diplomatic ties with the Holy See is that the Vatican sever ties with Taiwan.

5 FEBRUARY 2016

BREAKING NEWS: 'Hundreds' of people feared trapped in collapsed buildings as 6.4 magnitude earthquake shakes Taiwan

Hundreds of people are feared trapped in collapsed buildings after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan. 'Multiple' buildings - including at least one residential block - are said to have fallen following the quake which shook the island at about 4am on Saturday. Reports emerging suggest Tainan, on the south-west coast, was the worst affected, with pictures of buildings partially or completely destroyed circulating on social media. Daily Mail Read More>>>>>>