The church-run Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages in Taiwan recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.
The Roman Union of the Order of St. Ursula runs the university, which is located in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung.
More than 1,000 alumni, including former students and international and local guests attended the celebrations. After an evening banquet on the Oct. 15 the event concluded the following day with a charity bazaar and cultural show.
Archbishop Peter Liu Cheng-chung of Kaohsiung lauded the Ursuline sisters for training many good people who respect God and have contributed significantly to Taiwanese society over the past 50 years.
"I hope they continue to enhance their schoolfellows' understanding of a pluralistic culture so that they can continue to be witnesses through their professions over the next 50 years," said Archbishop Liu.
Among the guests was Sister Cecilia Wang, one of Wenzao's first graduates and now current Superior General of the Order, based in Rome.
In the mid-1960s, as Kaohsiung developed into an important international port, Archbishop Joseph Cheng Tien-siang of Kaohsiung (1961-90) invited the Ursuline sisters to establish a language school. The sisters had arrived in eastern Hualien Diocese in 1959 to start their mission to educate primary and high school students.
In 1999 it was erected as a language college and in 2013 the Taiwanese Ministry of Education approved it to become a university. Wenzao is named after the first Chinese priest and Bishop, Lo Wenzao (1616-91).
As part of the celebrations, Sister Teresa Ku, chair of the university's board, passed a lighted candle to the school principle Professor Chou Shieu-ming. (ucanews.com photo)