Before President Chen arrived at the Vatican, his image was seen on a big screen on St. Peter's Square. Italian media and the BBC referred to Chen as "Taiwanese president" in their reports of the first visit by a head of state of the Republic of China to the Holy See.
陳總統抵達梵蒂岡之前，他的影像就已經出現在教廷廣場的大螢幕上，義大利當地媒體與英國ＢＢＣ等國際傳媒都以「台灣總統」稱呼首次到訪的陳總統。