Visit can put Knock back on the global map
IT’S more than 100 years since villagers in Knock reported an apparition, and today devotees are hopeful Pope Francis’ visit to the shrine can reignite Catholicism in Ireland.
In 1879, villagers reported witnessing a vision of the Virgin Mary, St Joseph, St John and Jesus Christ, at a now holy shrine in Knock. The claims came at a challenging time in Irish history, when the country was in the stranglehold of the last wave of the Famine.
Now, after two of the most significant moves towards secularism in Ireland – the marriage and abortion referendums – many Catholics feel Ireland has lost its way. But step into Knock for just a couple of hours and images of saints and godly devotion are never far away.
Sheila Waldron’s shop, The Golden Rose, is just one selling souvenirs of the saints and Pope Francis in the shape of statues and holy pictures.
The papal visit on August 26 is almost like a celebrity visit and once again Knock will be on the global Catholic map.
Bernie Byrne (73), whose grandfather Dominic said he saw the vision along with others in the village in 1879, is hopeful Pope Francis can bring back some of the Catholic “magic” experienced during Pope John Paul II’s short stopover at Knock in 1979.
“Ireland isn’t as Catholic anymore,” Bernie said.
“But we hope more people will start coming back to the Church after the Pope’s visit. A lot of young families are starting to come back already. We
have a lot of foreigners visiting Knock. It’s still a very special, holy place.
“And I think the Pope’s visit is more important than ever to Ireland. We had the two referendums – on abortion and gay marriage.
“So it will be good for Ireland [to have the Pope visit]. The Pope is very well liked because he’s very broad-minded.
“I’d love to see Pope Francis. And I’m hopeful the people of Knock might get a special view. He’s only here for over an hour, so it’s a short visit. But we always felt he would come to Knock because of the apparition.”
Bernie’s brother Tom Byrne said: “My dad wouldn’t talk that much about the apparition his father saw, as it was just understood that it happened but he was very proud to be a son of one of the visionaries.”
Fr Richard Gibbons, the rector at Knock shrine, said the papal visit was “hugely important” for Knock and Ireland, as it had been nearly 40 years since the last one. “We’re expecting more people than we will be able to get in,” Fr Gibbons said.
“There will be around 45,000 tickets. They won’t be online until the end of the month. And the parishioners in Knock will be given priority.
“The fact Pope Francis is also flying into Knock Airport is very special.
Heaven
“One of my predecessors, Monsignor James Horan, who campaigned for so long to get the airport built, will be looking down from heaven smiling to see the airport being used by his holiness.”
Tomás Grimes, Knock Airport manager, and the grand nephew of Msgr Horan, said his relative was a “visionary” whose “fantastic legacy is being lived to this day”.
“I was only a few months old when Pope John Paul came to Knock last time,” Tomás said.
“My great uncle was at the forefront in the campaign to get the pope to visit and then the idea was born for the airport, a route for pilgrims to get to the west of Ireland.
“To be related to Monsignor Horan and to work at the airport he campaigned to have built, is a huge honour.
“He was a community man, who did everything for the good of his people.
“He’d have been very happy to see Pope Francis visiting Knock. This visit is testament to the work he did.”