Mass appeal!
QUESTION
The visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979 resulted in what is believed to have been the biggest gathering in Irish history. How was this conclusion reached? WHEN Pope John Paul II visited Ireland between Saturday, September 29, and Monday, October 1, 1979, more than 2.5million people went to the various events he presided over. The biggest crowd was for the Papal Mass in the Phoenix Park.
Pope John Paul II arrived at Dublin Airport on an Aer Lingus 747 named the St Patrick. When he got off the plane, he promptly kissed the ground. He was then whisked by helicopter to the Phoenix Park, where he celebrated Mass in front of an audience of 1.25million people.
At the time, this represented one-third of the population of the Republic and was said to have been the largest crowd ever assembled in Ireland.
But the methods used then to count the numbers were decidedly primitive and depended on ‘guesstimates’ as much as anything else. The number of people in a particular section of the crowd were counted, approximately, and then those figures were multiplied by the overall size of the crowd.
So while the people count of 1.25million was reasonably accurate, it could have been 100,000 people out, either way.
However, that Papal Mass undoubtedly attracted far more people than previous occasions. During the 1932 Eucharistic Congress, a Pontifical Mass was staged in the Phoenix Park. The main attraction was Count John McCormack singing Panis Angelicus. Pope Pius XI spoke via a live radio link from Rome. That Mass attracted one million people.
Going back into the earlier 19th century, Daniel O’Connell organised various monster rallies around the country. In June 1843, there was one at Shantalla, Galway, while in August 1843 another one was staged at the Hill of Tara in Co. Meath. Both those rallies attracted crowds of about 500,000, and the means of counting the numbers were far more primitive.
In modern times, concerts at venues such as Croke Park attract crowds of up to 100,000, and if the show is in a stadium, the numbers are easily counted to give a very precise overall figure.
These days, similar accuracy is used to count the crowds at big outdoor events. Modern technology, developed in the years since Pope John Paul II’s visit, includes the use of satellites, aerial photography, 3D grid systems and surveillance balloons.
These days, the audience is divided into grid sections, say 100 x 100ft or 500 x 500ft. Then the images of those sections are counted to see how many people there are in those grids.
Then that result is multiplied by the number of similar sized grids covering the whole crowd.
So when Pope Francis comes to Ireland this August, the figures for people attending will be far more accurate than last time. However, some commentators believe that the current Pope may not attract more than 750,000 people to Mass in the Phoenix Park.
Since that first Papal visit in 1979, Ireland has changed in so many ways. But at least this time, the numbers at the Papal Mass in the Phoenix Park will be counted with incredible accuracy, which wasn’t the case back in 1979.
Stephen Derham, Co. Dublin.
QUESTION
How accurate are the events in the James Woods film Indictment: The McMartin Trial? FROM 1987 to 1990, in the longest criminal trial in US history, prosecutors tried to prove Virginia McMartin, who owned a preschool in Manhattan Beach, California, had abused 13 children, taken pornographic pictures of them and forced them to watch the mutilation of animals.
Indictment: The McMartin Trial was an accurate portrayal of these events and won the 1996 Golden Globe award for best TV film.
The trial was a sensational affair that gripped America. One witness in the preliminary hearing, a ten-year-old boy, testified that he had seen hundreds of animals slaughtered, and that priests and nuns had abused him in a dozen satanic rituals.
Vigilante parents went through garbage and dug up a car park next to the school, looking for the skeletons of slaughtered classroom pets.
Despite a lack of reputable evidence against the teachers at the school and with every indication that the children had been coerced and manipulated to give their testimony, on March 22, 1984, Virginia McMartin, her daughter Peggy McMartin Buckey, grandchildren Ray Buckey and Peggy Ann Buckey, and teachers Mary Ann Jackson, Betty Raidor and Babette Spitler were charged with 115 counts of child abuse, later increased to 321 counts involving 48 children.
The US Supreme Court held that child witnesses could testify outside the courtroom despite the Sixth Amendment stating a defendant had the right to confront his or her accusers. Eventually, all the plaintiffs were acquitted, though Ray Buckey had to suffer a retrial on several of the indictments. Defence lawyer Danny Davis (played by James Woods in the film) said of Buckey: ‘He was singly the most heroic client I’ve ever defended, not only because he was innocent, but he endured it with a quiet wisdom.’
Though certain events were omitted or compressed owing to dramatic considerations, the court scenes were closely based on the transcripts, and the renditions of the children’s interview tapes were virtually verbatim. Sarah Westwood, Birmingham.
QUESTION
Which bacteria are the key offenders in causing smelly feet? FURTHER to the earlier answer, which discussed the cheesy gases produced by Brevibacterium and other microbes, my late husband suffered from smelly feet, and an old ex-navy uncle told us that a chap on one of the ships he sailed in had the same problem.
However, this was cured by soaking his feet in a bowl of water containing permanganate of potash.
I decided to give it a try. Unfortunately my uncle had failed to tell me how much to use and the length of time required.
By the end, my poor victim looked as though he was wearing purple socks for several days. It did work, however, and he never suffered from foot odour again.
IS THERE a question to which you have always wanted to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question raised here? Send your questions and answers to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Irish Daily Mail, Embassy House, Herbert Park Lane, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. You can also fax them to 0044 1952 510906 or you can email them to charles.legge@dailymail.ie. A selection will be published but we are not able to enter into individual correspondence.