Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Papal power
Thousands head south for first visit by pontiff in 39yrs
THOUSANDS of worshippers from Northern Ireland are to join the 500,000 descending on Dublin today to greet Pope Francis.
In the first papal visit since 1979, the pontiff will address the World Meeting of Families at Croke Park before travelling to the Knock Shrine in Co Mayo.
The 81-year-old will also meet survivors of Church sex abuse and face a protest over the Vatican cover-up.
However, he is guaranteed a warm reception with many predicting “a superstar welcome”.
POLICE in the Republic are monitoring an Islamic State terror threat as well as a disturbed Irishman pledging to burn himself alive in protest against the Pope’s visit.
Detectives have learned a man is actively claiming he will torch himself outside a parish church.
He is, along with a number of other disturbed people, threatening to kill himself as the leader of more than a billion Catholics arrives in Ireland.
A source said: “There is no direct threat against the Pope but there is strong intelligence of a Europe-wide threat from the so-called Islamic State. There has also been some intelligence of a number of people, particularly one man, threatening to self harm.
“One man has said he wishes to burn himself in a churchyard. This is being monitored by gardai.
“There are some concerns about overzealous fans but that is more about over excitement.”
A ring of steel will be placed around the Pope and there will be hundreds of road closures and junctions are to be guarded.
The giant Dublin operation will be mirrored in Knock as the Pope will visit the shrine. The security crackdown stands in contrast to the general mood surrounding the visit. In shops and stalls across the south there are pop-up Pope chairs, lollipopes and Francis fudge boxes.
A waving waxwork of the Holy Father is available for selfies and a spoof drive-through confessional box offers lapsed Catholics “contrition with your keys still in the ignition”.it’s estimated more than 500,000 will flock to Ireland’s first visit from a Pope since rapturous crowds greeted John Paul II in 1979.
But times have changed and Francis cannot look forward to quite the same ecstatic, unqualified reception.
Many have misgivings about his