Pope’s migrant plea as Leo prepares for his visit to Ireland..
Taoiseach ready for long or short stop
THE Government is ready to meet the Pope with open arms when he comes here next year, the Taoiseach has said.
Leo Varadkar has promised to establish a special liaison officer in his department to help co-ordinate events.
The pontiff is scheduled to come to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families in August.
It will be the first visit from a Pope since John Paul II drew one million people to Dublin’s Phoenix Park, in 1979.
Mr Varadkar said: “The Pope is coming to the World Meeting of Families next year as part of our ongoing dialogue with the Church.
“That was discussed at the meeting we had and there is going to be another meeting with the Church in the New Year.
“They asked that we have someone here in the department as a contact point to assist them in the co-ordination and we made that available to them.
“We just don’t know yet if it will be a very short visit just for the Meeting of World Families or whether it will be an extended visit involving other things such as Northern Ireland, but we are very much at their disposal and the Government will assist in any way to facilitate Pope Francis’ visit.”
Mr Varadkar’s comments come as the pontiff urged Catholics not to ignore the plight of millions of migrants.
He likened Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem to modernday migrations by those forced to leave their homelands for a better life.
The leader of the Catholic Church said many people around the world were forced to flee from leaders who “see no problem in shedding innocent blood”.
The 81-year-old Argentinian addressed worshippers in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City at the Christmas Eve vigil Mass, adding: “So many other footsteps are hidden in the footsteps of Joseph and Mary.
“We see the tracks of millions of persons who do not choose to go away but, driven from their land, leave behind their dear ones.
“In many cases this departure is filled with hope, hope for the future; yet for many this departure can only have one name: survival.”
He said God is present in “the unwelcomed visitor, often unrecognisable, who walks through our cities and our neighbourhoods, who travels on our buses and knocks on our door”.
The Pope added: “That perception of God should develop into new forms of relationship, in which none have to feel there is no room for them on this Earth.
“Christmas is a time for turning the power of fear into the power of charity.”
We don’t know if it will be a short visit or involve other things leo varadkar ON THE PAPAL VISIT TO IRELAND
THE Irish Mirror reports today the Government is ready to meet with the Pope when he visits the country next August.
It is hoped his Holiness will have a stern word with the Taoiseach and his ministers about the scandal of how one of the richest countries in the world refuses to provide homes for its people.
Pope Francis will be here for the Meeting of World Families so it would be fitting if he reprimanded the Government for failing to look after the 3,333 children who are sharing emergency accommodation with theirs.
For them and many other families this has been a very difficult year in a society where inequality has now become a way of life.
While Christmas is supposed to be a happy time for families it can prove very stressful for those who have barely enough to get by on.
There are many hundreds of thousands of families and individuals who are just about managing to pay their bills.
The Irish people are resilient and resourceful and they needed to be over the last few years as they, and not the Government, have brought the country back from the brink.
While it is impossible to predict what the New Year holds there is every chance there will be an election.
The public will then at least have to have their say on how their resources have been used, or misused, during the last few years.