The visit of Pope Francis made one old man very happy indeed

IT reminded me of 1985 – Live Aid. I sat for 24 hours straight or thereabouts, in front of the telly watching the greatest musical experience of my life up to that point.

Last Saturday was a similar experience for my Father in Law – glued to the telly from 10 am watching The Pope’s visit, delighted with himself.

He rang me to come over and join the celebrations. I agreed on the presumption that there would be wine. There wasn’t. The Father in law is usually fairly flathulach with the wine but perhaps he thought it would be disrespectful in the presence of His Holiness.

Leaving all serious commentary aside for a moment, I have to say I love a bit of pomp and ceremony and no one does pomp and ceremony better than Catholics.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the eclectic mix of performers showing the Pope what modern Ireland has to offer. Apart from Daniel O’Donnell, that is, who was totally out of tune. The Father in Law wasn’t too enamoured with some of the dancers either who he thought were dressed a bit scantily for a papal performance.

Anyway the whole thing had the air of a Eurovision of days gone by. It was jolly, it was pleasant and we were all delighted to be Irish. Furthermore, even if it was for just one day, we were all delighted to be Catholic. That hasn’t happened in quite some time.

The Father in Law was getting very annoyed with everybody dissing The Pope. ‘In fairness I think he’s a great fella. He’s 82. Fair play to him. And sure they can’t blame him personally for everything that’s happened. He wasn’t even pope for most of it.’

The simplicity of his argument resonated with me. At the same time I wanted to say, yes but he is the head of the Catholic Church who have committed some awful atrocities. Apologies aren’t enough. There needs to be change, there needs to be acceptance.

And I looked across at an old man who has become a widower in recent years, and he looked happier than I’d seen him in a long time. The Pope’s visit reignited his unquestioning faith, has given him something to believe in and has given him solace at a time when he needed it.

I watched a number of people on telly all of whom had serious problems – sick children, no homes, no money and yet they all seemed genuinely touched to have met this man that many felt had no right to be here.

He can’t be all bad if that’s the effect he has. Surely it means there’s some hope that we can turn this situation around, restore our faith in humanity, if not religion.

‘He has a kind face,’ the Father in Law remarked.

He does.

HEWASN’T TOO ENAMOURED WITH SOME OF THE DANCERS, WHO HE THOUGHT WERE DRESSED A BIT SCANTILY FOR A PAPALPERFORMANCE