President Chen left for the funeral mass for Pope John Paul II at the Vatican on 7 April. On the 9th, in a statement made upon his return to Taiwan, he called on KMT chairman Lien Chan to not spoil Taiwan's peace, reconciliation, and solidarity.
7 日前往梵蒂岡參加教宗若望保祿二世追思彌撒的陳總統，結束旋風式訪歐之旅，9 日返抵國門後，立即發表演說，呼籲國民黨主席連戰勿破壞台灣內部的和平、和解與團結。