40 Years after the visit of Pope John Paul II to Ireland, Pat Fitzpatrick looks back at that era and asks men who share the Pope’s name what they think of the big changes during their lifetime

Ginmhilleadh, the Irish word for abortion, means ‘the destruction of the unborn’.

The Archbishop of Dublin has described the newly canonised popes John XXIII and John Paul II as men “who in their day to day ordinary lives try heroically to live the Christian life”.

Pope Francis proclaimed his predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II saints in front of more than 500,000 pilgrims, hailing both as courageous men who withstood the tragedies of the 20th century.