Papal visit is welcome, even in a changed country

T HE expected visit of Pope Francis to Ireland next year for the World Meeting of Families will doubtless spark memories and comparisons with the last visit by a Pontiff when Pope John Paul II was here in 1979. Ireland is a very different country now and the Catholic Church is certainly viewed in a vastly different light in the wake of decades of scandals and controversies.

The emergence of details of the cover-up of child sex abuse, in particular, have rocked the faithful and the dwindling numbers attending mass are the net effect of this malaise. The declining numbers of clergy members mean there is a question mark over the ability of the church to serve communities across the country.

Today marks the launch of the year-long programme of preparation for the international World Meeting of Families event in Dublin next August.

Fr Tim Bartlett, who is the lead organiser of the event, acknowledges Ireland is “in a different place” now to 1979. And he believes that the country is at “a more critical moment in history”. The event is an opportunity for the church to reconnect with its members and to set out its role in modern Ireland, where its presence is less influential.

Pope Francis’s integrity and acknowledgement of the changing mores of society give critical voices a chance to be heard. The welcome for his visit here next year ought to be warm, while also remembering the wrongs perpetrated in this country by the church he represents.