HEALING VISIT
Penitent Pope Francis begs forgiveness for the Church – and offers the hand of consolation to victims of ‘all the abuses’
A PENITENT Pope repeatedly asked for forgiveness for the sins of the Church at his farewell Mass in the Phoenix Park yesterday.
Single mothers, clerical abuse survivors and those forced to work in Churchrun industrial homes were foremost in his mind as he issued words of contrition on behalf of the Church.
Five times Pope Francis asked for forgiveness, and directly referenced his meeting with eight victims of clerical sex abuse and religious violence at the Papal Nunciature the night before.
He asked those survivors for forgiveness and said those who worked to shroud the Church from culpability had abused their position – including those who covered up sex abuse.
‘We ask forgiveness for the abuses in Ireland, abuses of power, conscience, and sexual abuses perpetrated by members with roles of responsibility in the Church,’ the Pope declared from the high altar in the Phoenix Park.
He added: ‘In a special way we ask pardon for all the abuses committed in various types of institutions run by male or female religious, and by other members of the Church, and we ask for forgiveness for those cases of exploitation through manual work, that so many young women and men were subjected to. We ask forgiveness.’
His reference to the Magdalene laundries and other places of detention drew prolonged applause.
The Pope ploughed on, beating his breast with contrite fervour. ‘We ask forgiveness, for the times that as a Church we did not show the survivors of whatever kind of abuse compassion, and the seeking justice and truth and concrete actions. We ask for forgiveness,’ he said.
In a devastating denunciation of his own senior prelates of the past and present, he added: ‘We ask forgiveness for some members of the Church hierarchy, who did not take charge of these painful situations and kept quiet. We ask forgiveness.’
The vast crowd itself remained silent, absorbing this catalogue of regret, sensing it was present at an epochal event, which history might yet judge as Roman Catholicism’s lowest ebb, or the moment when it began meaningful change.
‘We ask for forgiveness for all those times in which many single mothers were told that to seek their children who had been separated from them, and the same being said to daughters and sons themselves, that this was a mortal sin,’ he said. ‘This is not a mortal sin, we ask for forgiveness.’
Clad in green vestments and buffeted by the strong winds, the softly spoken Pontiff looked out upon a crowd which fell far short of the expected 500,000, partly due to concerns over long walks and bad weather. Crowd estimates varied between 130,000 and 300,000.
A number of people left the Phoenix Park before the Mass, having caught a glimpse of the Holy Father as he was brought through the crowds in the Popemobile.
A Garda source said the early leavers were noticeable across all areas after the Pontiff had passed by. Others also left during the Mass.
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, in his opening address, drew attention to the size of the crowd that had attended the same place on September 29, 1979. More than one million people had gathered around the Papal Cross in the park on that day, he said.
The Pope had come ‘to a different land’ 39 years on, he said. ‘The Church in Ireland has gone through challenging times,’ the archbishop acknowledged. ‘People have been wounded.’ He noted that in previous years people had even called for the removal of the 35-metre cross erected to mark the 1979 occasion, and conceded that it could look isolated, ‘particularly in the bleakness of an Irish winter’/
It may be a paradox, Archbishop Martin added, but ‘faith in Ireland is strong, and faith in Ireland is fragile.’
The climate was changeable also in a literal sense, with the vast gathering by turns subjected to pelting rain but also sunshine. For the Mass itself, the weather was cloudy and blustery – with vestments flapping on high and Holy See and Irish flags rippling in the wind.
There were faint echoes of the abortion referendum – with the Pope referring to the rights
‘We ask forgiveness’
of the unborn in his homily. The Pope said: ‘How inconvenient to protect the rights of the most vulnerable, the unborn or the elderly, who seem to impinge upon our own sense of freedom.’
He made no specific reference to abortion itself, or to euthanasia, which many Catholic voices have warned could follow the liberalisation of Ireland’s laws on the termination of pregnancy.
The Mass itself passed off remarkably smoothly, with the huge assembly maintaining good order and almost no stampeding towards the Popemobile as has happened with past popes in other places.
The Papal Mass was the concluding showpiece of the five-day World Meeting of Families.
Pope Francis concluded it by thanking those involved and then left the altar to attend a meeting with Irish bishops during which he noted that Church scandals had also caused ‘hurt and discouragement’ to current members of the priesthood.
The Pope said that was often ‘ignored or underestimated’.
He said the bishops had ‘resolutely moved forward’ with steps to better safeguard children within the Church.
Arriving at Dublin Airport, he shook hands with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar next to the runway. He then waved to senior clerics and other dignitaries at the door of the plane before heading inside.
It had been a whirlwind visit for the 81-year-old Argenitinian, who was greeted by Tánaiste Simon Coveney and his family 36 hours earlier on the same tarmac.
That morning, north Dubliners had lined the streets in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Pope as he made his way into the city, waving at onlookers through the open car window of his Skoda.
The first stop for the Pontiff was to Áras an Uachtaráin, where he was greeted by President Michael D Higgins.
There, Pope Francis signed the visitors book with a short message for the people of Ireland: ‘With gratitude for the warm welcome I have received, I assure you and the people of Ireland of my prayers that Almighty God may guide and protect you all.’
In a private meeting, the President raised the subject of child sex abuse within the Church.
Before a brief stop-off with locals on Seán McDermott Street in the north inner city, Pope Francis then made his way to Dublin Castle where the Holy Father was once again reminded of the ‘dark aspects’ of the Church’s history by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
After attending St Mary’s Pro Cathedral that afternoon, the Pontiff set off on his journey through the streets of Dublin in the Popemobile. Despite being greeted by a mainly welcoming crowd, he was also met by protesters along his route, including some holding signs criticising the lack of women priests and the Church’s failures on child abuse.
His tour of the city centre finished up at the Capuchin Day Centre, where he had a heartwarming meeting with impoverished people who rely on the centre for food and shelter.
The day was rounded off with the World Meeting of Families concert in Croke Park, at which the performers included Andrea Bocelli, Daniel O’Donnell, Nathan Carter and Riverdance.
Yesterday’s homily picked up on Archbishop Martin’s desire for renewal and rebirth in the Irish Church. The Pope asked for people to go home and bear witness to Church teachings and to imitate Christ in their lives.
He told them not to be ashamed, but to stand up for their beliefs. ‘Of course, there will always be people who resist the good news, who murmur at its hard words,’ he said. ‘Yet like St Columbanus and his companions, who faced icy waters and stormy seas to follow Jesus, may we never be swayed or discouraged by the icy stare of indifference or the stormy winds of hostility.’
And so, the historic visit – which culminated, as before, in a Papal Mass in Phoenix Park once again – brought a strengthening of faith to some, further rancour for clerical abuse survivors but a sense of spiritual healing for others.
‘Stormy winds of hostility’