Six months after Taiwan’s citizens voted decisively in a national referendum to affirm traditional marriage, the Legislative Yuan, its unicameral parliament, approved same-sex marriage – becoming the first country in Asia to do so. Immediately, Taiwan began to recognise same-sex unions too, as its Constitutional Court had effectively ordered it to in 2017.

The island’s tiny Catholic Church was part of an interfaith coalition that led the successful referendum effort last November.

So why did the Yuan reject public sentiment? Fr Otfried Chen, secretary-general of the Chinese Regional Bishops’ Conference (Taiwan’s episcopal conference), told the Catholic Herald there were several reasons.