Pope holds final Mass in Ireland amid call for him to quit over abuse
Ex-Vatican aide cites ex-D.C. prelate’s role
DUBLIN — Pope Francis began his final Mass in Ireland on Sunday with a litany of repentance for victims of sexual abuse and of abuse “of power and conscience.”
And as the pope was seeking repentance, there was a call for his resignation from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who was the papal nuncio to Washington, D.C., before Francis recalled him in 2016.
The archbishop’s letter contended that Francis had allowed former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick to retain his influential role despite knowing for years of allegations of sexual misconduct against him. The cardinal was banned from ministry and resigned earlier this year when it became publicly known he sexually abused boys and exploited young adult seminarians.
Francis essentially fired Archbishop Vigano from his diplomatic post. The latter is part of a conservative camp that blames the pope for being part of a liberal group tolerating homosexuality in the church.
At the Mass, Francis did not address the Vigano letter, which was published in a newspaper. Later, though, the pope dismissed the Vigano claims, telling reporters on the flight back to Rome that “this statement speaks for itself, and you have the sufficient journalistic capacity to draw conclusions,” according to the National Catholic
Reporter.
During the Mass, the pope did acknowledge, as he has before, failures of the hierarchy to heed the victims of sexual abuse by priests.
He lamented other abuses in church-run institutions that have shocked and alienated many in this once-staunchly Roman Catholic country. That included those subjected to hard labor, which have included unwed mothers forced to work in laundries.
And the pope spoke of unwed mothers forced to give up children for adoption, and the children themselves, in explicitly affirming that contrary to what some priests had told them, it is not a mortal sin to seek reunion with one’s birth family.
The crowd applauded several times.
Earlier, the thousands of people cheered Pope Francis as he arrived for the open-air Mass in Dublin’s Phoenix Park to conclude his two-day visit to Ireland on a chilly and breezy Sunday afternoon.
Local media reported the crowd was far smaller than the projected half-million, which is based on the numbers of free tickets distributed in advance.
But those who did show up displayed their enthusiasm.
The crowds cheered as the pope made his trademark rounds through the crowd in the popemobile, waving and greeting them as they waved back or tried to capture the moment on their cellphones.
A melancholic air hovered over the entire papal visit due to Irish outrage over many of the scandals.
Even as the pope was saying his final Mass before flying home to Rome, others were demonstrating at a national memorial in Dublin on behalf of abuse victims and others marginalized by the church. And in the western town of Tuam, many held vigil for the hundreds of children who died over the years at a “mother and babies home.” The remains of dozens of children, many of whom died of natural causes, were found in a septic tank recently.
Advocates for abuse victims say the pope needs to put actions behind his words, such as revising church policy to banish any abusive priest from ministry around the world, as well as any bishop or other superior who enables an abuser.
At the papal Mass, a large choir and orchestra performed hymns and Irish standards accompanied by distinctive Irish instruments.
The pope began the day with a morning visit to the Marian shrine in Knock in the west of Ireland. He made reference to the scandal of sexual abuse of children by priests, acknowledging it as an “open wound.”
Among those who attended Mass at Phoenix Park was Marie Hendrixson and her adult son and daughter from suburban Philadelphia.
They had attended Pope Francis’ Mass in central Philadelphia in 2015 at the conclusion of the churchsponsored World Meeting of Families.
When they heard that Francis again would visit the conference being held this year in Dublin, they decided to combine attending the papal Mass with a vacation to Ireland.
The 2015 Mass “was incredible,” said Ms. Hendrixson of Garnet Valley in Delaware County. “Everyone we talked to was from a different state or country.”
Traveling from Pennsylvania, a state shaken by a recent grand jury report into sexual abuse by clergy, to a country that has reeled from similar scandals, Ms. Hendrixson said the issue has created a cloud over the visit. But she noted that the pope met with victims both in Dublin and in Philadelphia and believes he is reforming the church.
As for Sunday’s Mass, Ms. Hendrixson commented: “It was very moving. He’s very direct about the abuse that happened in the church and in asking for forgiveness. He’s a man of compassion and that’s what the church needs now in a leader.”
Irish worshippers said they hoped the pope’s words would start a healing in the nation, but they recognized it would be a long haul.
“It’s difficult to accept what has taken place,” both in Ireland and “in your own state of Pennsylvania,” Irene Rogerson of Galway told a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter.
She believes Francis can bring reform, but “he’s going to need a lot of help to put this right,” she said. “He’s just one man.”