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Belgian Catholic nun naturalized for contributions

2019-07-15
Taipei Times
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Belgian Catholic nun Maria Godelieva Claeys holds a blow-up image of her Republic of China identity card in Taipei on Saturday after being granted citizenship./Photo courtesy of Taipei Times
Belgian Catholic nun Maria Godelieva Claeys holds a blow-up image of her Republic of China identity card in Taipei on Saturday after being granted citizenship./Photo courtesy of Taipei Times

Maria Godelieva Claeys, a Belgian Catholic nun who has devoted most of her life to taking care of premature infants in Taiwan, was on Saturday granted Republic of China (ROC) citizenship.

“This is my home,” the 83-year-old sister said after receiving her ROC identification card from government officials in recognition of her contributions.

Claeys, of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, has served in Taiwan since 1963, when she began looking after premature infants at the then-St Joseph’s Hospital in Taipei.

The hospital was established by a group of Immaculate Heart of Mary sisters from Belgium in the early 1960s, providing care and medication for disadvantaged mothers and children, and was once known as the hospital that admitted the highest number of premature infants in Taiwan.

Care for premature infants in Taiwan at the time was relatively underdeveloped, and the cost of treatment was high, Claeys said.

The hospital at the time had no means of purchasing incubators, which were considered a luxury medical device, and could only borrow them from other hospitals, she said.

It was not until 1964 that the hospital acquired an incubator of its own, followed by another 12 five years later, Claeys said.

As there were not enough incubators to keep up with the number of newborns, three to four babies would often have to be squeezed into one, she said.

Due to overcrowding and the lack of space, the hospital was relocated to New Taipei City in 1981 and was later renamed Cardinal Tien Hospital.

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