‘Ireland moves to genuine home rule’
AT THE back of it all, the Pope is really a politician. His constituency has no boundaries and he’ll never face re-election – but maintaining the popularity of his party is becoming increasingly difficult.
By coming to Ireland he hoped to rally the faithful by admitting that he is not infallible.
His key message that families need to be able to say “sorry”, “please” and “thank you” rang around Croke Park as his followers chanted on his instruction.
But the challenges facing His Holiness are unprecedented. He is not fighting for political survival, he is battling for forgiveness in a world that has grown weary of words.
That was made clear to him by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar when the pair met at Dublin Castle on Saturday.
The pair had only a 10-minute private conversation before the gay prime minister of a country where three in four people still profess to be Catholic introduced the Pontiff to a room of diverse dignitaries.
If the Pope wasn’t warned about what was to come, he should have been alerted by the sight of a front-row seat reserved for former President Mary McAleese. Close to her was Culture Minister Josepha Madigan, who herself ran afoul of the Catholic leadership for merely helping ‘say Mass’ in the absence of a priest.
In any event, he already had the words of Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone “echoing in his heart” after she learned enough Italian to ensure he fully understood the outrage that was the Tuam mother and baby home.
During their private tête-à-tête, the Taoiseach welcomed Pope Francis to Ireland and encouraged him to enjoy the public adulation that would await him on the streets of Dublin, at Knock Shrine and in the Phoenix Park.
Mr Varadkar thanked the Pope for his statements on climate change, accepting refugees and international development. He said the Vatican’s leadership on these issues made it easier for politicians to make the right decision. They discussed the work of Irish missionaries around the world, and particularly in the Pope’s home country of Argentina.
And then Mr Varadkar moved on to “legacy issues”. He said there are huge numbers of people in Ireland who have “faith in their heart but who feel excluded and alienated from the Church”.
Mr Varadkar, who was raised a Catholic, said many people “want to believe again” and “want to be called back to the Church”.
But sources close to the Taoiseach say he knew saying this in private would never be enough. A public statement on the relationship between Church and State was needed. Otherwise both sides would remain imprisoned in a purgatory of the past.
But this couldn’t be about church versus state, either.
“Holy Father, I believe that the time has now come for us to build a new relationship between church and state in Ireland – a new covenant for the 21st century. It is my hope that your visit marks the opening of a new chapter in the relationship between Ireland and the Catholic Church,” the Taoiseach said.
“Building on our intertwined history, and learning from our shared mistakes, it can be one in which religion is no longer at the centre of our society, but in which it still has an important place.”
The Government made a point of inviting a diverse representation of “modern Ireland” to St Patrick’s Hall in Dublin Castle.
And there, in the place that was once the centre of British rule in Ireland, Mr Varadkar formally declared the end of ‘Rome Rule’. The time had come for genuine ‘Home Rule’.
“The Ireland of the 21st century is a very different place today than it was in the past. Ireland is increasingly diverse,” the Taoiseach said. “One in six of us was not born here, and there are more and more people who adhere to other faiths,
or who are comfortable in declaring that they subscribe to no organised religion.
“We have voted in our parliament and by referendum to modernise our laws – understanding that marriages do not always work, that women should make their own decisions, and that families come in many forms including those headed by a grandparent, lone parent or same-sex parents or parents who are divorced.”
If the Pope felt ambushed or annoyed by the speech, he hid it well. Perhaps he realised there’s no other way this could have gone.
As Mr Varadkar put it: “Wounds are still open and there is much to be done to bring about justice and truth and healing for victims and survivors.”
In his own contribution on Saturday, Pope Francis talked about “pain and shame” but stopped short of suggesting any firm action on the scandal gripping the Church.
By the time he reached Knock Shrine on Saturday though, the script was hardened up. In the interim he had met with survivors of the Magdalene Laundries, industrial schools and paedophile priests for 90 minutes.
Some of those Church victims claimed afterwards that the Pope seemed somehow oblivious to much of what really went on in Ireland. Hopefully he listened carefully.
On the surface, it appeared he did. At Knock he “presented” to Our Lady “all the victims of abuse of whatever kind committed by members of the Church in Ireland”.
He accepted people were “robbed of their innocence” and “left scarred by painful memories”.
And echoing the words of the Taoiseach from 24 hours previous, the Pontiff said: “This open wound challenges us to be firm and decisive in the pursuit of truth and justice.”
Only time will tell whether the Catholic Church changes its course after this historic visit – but the Republic of Ireland has changed forever.