Pope Francis to visit Ireland soon after abortion referendum
IRELAND - Pope Francis is to visit Ireland in August, just three months after the country votes in a deeply divisive referendum that could lead to legal abortions in the republic’s hospitals.
The Vatican confirmed yesterday that the first papal visit to Ireland since 1979 will take place during a “World Meeting of Families” week that runs from 21 to 26 August.
Francis will celebrate mass in Dublin’s Phoenix Park on Sunday 26 August – the same venue where the late Pope John Paul II preached to nearly 1 million Catholics 39 years ago.
The Argentinian-born pope will arrive in an Ireland very different from the republic John Paul II visited nearly four decades ago. In 1979 homosexuality was illegal, divorce virtually impossible, and condoms only available with the agreement of a GP. Catholic cardinals and bishops exercised enormous influence on the country’s political leadership from the pulpit and there was an 80% attendance rate for weekly mass.
More than 3 million people went to see John Paul II at four different locations during the visit.
Francis’s visit was welcomed by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, which said in a statement: “We are deeply honoured that Pope Francis will come to our country to participate in this universal church celebration of faith and joy, as well as of the contemporary challenges which face families.
“With great anticipation we also look forward to hearing the apostolic guidance of His Holiness during his stay with us.”
(The Guardian)