Pope to meet homeless and the poor during visit
■ First visit in nearly 40 years will see events in Croke Park and Phoenix Park ■ Trip to North doubtful but visit to prison and north inner-city possible
POPE Francis is planning to visit the Capuchin Day Centre for the homeless in Dublin when he travels here in August, the Irish Independent has learned.
The Pope has announced to thousands of pilgrims that he would make the first papal trip to Ireland in nearly 40 years.
The Pontiff will take part in the ‘Festival of Families’ in Croke Park on August 25, and the following day he will celebrate an open-air mass in the Phoenix Park.
Pope Francis has not yet indicated a visit to survivors of child sexual abuse among his pastoral visits. But one senior source highlighted the late start of the Festival of Families, a faith-based cultural concert due to take place in Croke Park on the Saturday evening, left the Pope scope to visit other projects and places earlier that day.
One such project is a meeting with the homeless at the facility run by Brother Kevin Crowley since 1969. On Monday, representatives of the Pope arrived at the centre on Bow Street as part of their planning for the Pontiff ’s visit. “A group from Rome was here on Monday making arrangements for the Pope so I presume it will go ahead. Nothing has been confirmed yet but it is on the cards,” Brother Kevin told the Irish Independent.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin indicated to the Irish Independent late last year that he was confident the Pope will visit a prison while he is in Ireland and an inner-city parish community affected by disadvantage.
POPE Francis is planning to visit the Capuchin Day Centre for the homeless in Dublin when he travels to Ireland in August, the Irish Independent has learned.
In St Peter’s Square yesterday, the Pope announced to thousands of pilgrims from all over the world that he would make the first papal trip to Ireland in nearly 40 years, visiting Dublin for the closing events of the World Meeting of Families (WMOF2018) on August 25-26.
He will take part in the ‘Festival of Families’ in Croke Park on August 25 and the following day he will celebrate an open-air Mass in the capital’s Phoenix Park.
The Pontiff’s confirmation of his two-day visit to Dublin appears to rule out a visit to Northern Ireland. The brevity of his stay and the fact that his agenda is already tied to his participation in WMOF2018 appears to make a visit to the North doubtful. However, insiders have said it is still possible.
One senior source stressed that the Pope’s full schedule won’t be confirmed until June. He also highlighted that the late start of the Festival of Families, a faith-based cultural concert, which is due to take place in Croke Park on the evening of August 25, left the Pope scope to visit other projects and places earlier that day.
One such project is a meeting with the homeless at the facility run by Brother Kevin Crowley since 1969. On Monday, representatives of the Pope arrived at the centre on Bow Street as part of their planning for the Pontiff ’s visit.
“A group from Rome was here on Monday making arrangements for the Pope, so I presume it will go ahead. Nothing has been confirmed yet but it is on the cards,” Brother Kevin told the Irish Independent. “It would be a fantastic honour, and would be great for the homeless people who use the centre to meet him.”
The Capuchin Day Centre provides more than 700 meals every day and over 1,500 food parcels each Wednesday to the capital’s homeless and poor.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin indicated to the Irish Independent late last year that he was confident that the Pope would visit a prison while he was in Ireland and an inner-city parish community affected by disadvantage and criminal activity. This is likely to be Mountjoy prison and Dublin’s north inner city, which is in the Archbishop’s own parish and has been scarred by the Hutch-Kinahan gang war.
Welcoming news of the papal visit, the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dáil that Pope Francis was a “welcome guest” and he looked forward to greeting him during his visit.
Meanwhile, a theologian and member of the Association of Catholic Priests has warned that Pope Francis is visiting a different Ireland from the one Pope John Paul II visited in 1979. Fr Gerry O’Hanlon, who belongs to the same Jesuit order as the Pope, said: “The country is much more secularised, and the clerical sexual abuse scandals, and how they were handled, has eroded the moral authority of the church.”
He said he hoped that the Pope’s visit would lead to more than just an emotional response from people “like the buzz you might get at a celebrity concert”.
The Jesuit priest believes Pope Francis will include survivors of child sexual abuse among his pastoral visits in Ireland and he emphasised that a visit to Northern Ireland would boost the process of reconciliation there.
But a campaigner for survivors of institutional abuse in Catholic-run homes in Northern Ireland has warned that the Pope will face protests from survivors.
Margaret McGuckin, who was instrumental in establishing a public inquiry in Northern Ireland, warned: “Our groups will be there to protest, there still remains a cover-up, we still know there has not been a proper investigation done into the abuses of the Christian Brothers.”