Pope is welcome but he must acknowledge hurt

THE first papal visit to Ireland in almost four decades will take place in August. Pope Francis will visit Dublin for two days. The purpose of the visit is the World Meeting of Families. The Pontiff will celebrate a special mass in Croke Park and a public mass in the Phoenix Park. The crowds in attendance are unlikely to come anywhere near the one million at Pope John Paul II’s Mass at the same venue in September 1979.

Nonetheless, it would be churlish and misguided to suggest the Pope is not a welcome visitor to our shores.

There has been much commentary about Ireland changing in the intervening period between Papal visits. But we haven’t lost our sense of hospitality.

Besides, the country does remain predominantly Catholic, even if the data also records the first fall in the absolute number of Catholics in Ireland in 45 years.

The last census shows the percentage of the population who identified as Catholic has fallen sharply from 84.2pc in 2011 to 78.3pc in 2016. And people born outside the country make up 12pc of the country’s total Catholic population.

The census doesn’t reflect Mass-going numbers, which have also dropped considerably.

The decision of the 81-year-old pontiff to visit Ireland for the three-yearly families events had been flagged by Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin. The Pope will also visit members of the Catholic faith working with Dublin’s poor and homeless.

However, it is appropriate for the Pope to acknowledge the hurt caused to victims of clerical sexual abuse and those placed in institutional care run by the Church.

Failing to do so would cast an unnecessary shadow on what should be a memorable visit.