Private audience with the Pope

May 1983

One of the two Irishmen received to a private audience with Pope John Paul II in The Vatican on Thursday last was Mr. Matty Lacey, Cluainín, Gorey, President of the Gorey St. Joseph’s Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Mr Lacey was among St. Vincent de Paul members from sixty countries who were received in the hour-long private audience. He said that it was ‘the experience of a lifetime’ and a great honour for the St. Joseph’s Conference to have one of Ireland’s representatives in the meeing with the Pope.

The St. Vincent de Paul members had been attending the 150th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Society in Paris the previous week. Pope John Paul issued a personal invitation to the delegates to come to Rome to meet him in the private audience. About a hundred of the delegates, including the two Irishmen, travelled on to Rome for the meeting with the Pope.

The reason for Pope John Paul’s invitation was that he wanted to pay special tribute to the Society in their special 150th anniversary year of their founding in Paris by a student named Frederick Ozanim.

Mr Lacey said this week that in his address to the delegates, Pope John Paul spoke of the great role the Society was playing in helping to alleviate hardship and suffering in all corners of the world.

The Pope said he was delighted to see so many people from so many different countries represented.

The other Irishman received in the private audience was Mr Joe Kilroy of the Glasnevin Conference in Dublin.

Mr. Jimmy Somers, Kilnahue, Gorey, was the second delegate from the Gorey Conference at the Paris celebrations, but he was unable to travel on to Rome for the private audience because of work commitments.