Mail’s Pope Francis coin gets thumbs-up
ANN Dunne is one of the Irish Daily Mail readers who received their commemorative Pope Francis coin this week ahead of the Papal visit.
Ann, 74, from Finglas in Dublin, who is a regular reader of this paper, still has her ticket from the first Papal Mass in 1979, and said that she is delighted that she now has the coin to mark Pope Francis’s visit this weekend.
On receiving the unique item of memorabilia, she said it was ‘absolutely beautiful, a dream come true’.
Ms Dunne still has memories from the last Papal visit in 1979, when she attended Mass with Pope John Paul II in the Phoenix Park. Speaking to the Mail this week, she recalled how almost every one of her neighbours made the journey for the Mass. ‘It was wonderful,’ she said. ‘We walked to the park, we got sandwiches and everything. You couldn’t see the Pope, but you could hear him.’
Although she will not be able to attend this year’s Mass due to health reasons, her son has hung Papal flags up outside her home to celebrate the visit.
Another reader who was thrilled to receive her Pope commemorative coin was Esther Newman from Swords, in north Co. Dublin.
‘I was very, very happy with it, it was lovely now. I will treasure that,’ the 84 year-old-said.
Although she said that she would love to see Pope Francis during the first Papal visit to Ireland in almost 40 years, she will instead watch the coverage on television.
‘I think he’s a lovely Pope,’ she told the Mail. ‘I won’t go to the Park… I wouldn’t be able to stand all that time.’
Tomorrow’s special souvenir issue of the Irish Mail on Sunday will contain a token for the Commemorative Pope Francis coin.
The final token in this offer will appear in Monday’s Irish Daily Mail, along with a 16-page supplement to commemorate the Papal visit to Ireland.
O For full details on the Pope Francis coin offer, see page 66. For today’s token, see page 87