Taiwan is racing to secure President Lai Ching-te’s attendance to the funeral of Pope Francis, a trip that would give the island’s top official a rare chance to mix with other leaders.

Navarrosa, who is currently writing his thesis on the pope’s 2016 encyclical 'Amoris Laetitia,' recalls meeting Francis in 2021 and says he had hoped to meet him again. “I’m not worried about the future of the church, because it is guided by the Holy Spirit,” he says.