This is the Irish schoolgirl who can claim to be the Pope's penpal

A schoolgirl from Galway received an answer from Pope Francis after a question she asked the Pontiff made its way into a book which features contributions from children around the world.

Clara Ó Gormáin, a 12-year-old from Salthill, Co Galway, can claim to be the Pope’s penpal after writing to him in Irish and asking: “An airíonn tú mar Phápa gur tú athair ag an domhain iomlán?” — does he feel like a father to everyone?

She also sent a picture that she had drawn.

Naturally enough, the Pope replied: “Every priest likes to feel that he is a father,” concluding his response with: “Yes Clara, I like being a dad.”

The novel exchange means the young student from the Jesuit Scoil Iognáid in Galway is the sole Irish contributor to the book, entitled Dear Pope Francis: The Pope Answers Letters From Children Around the Word.

It was launched yesterday at Saint Patrick’s Primary School in Armagh, with Archbishop Eamon Martin in attendance.

The book includes 259 letters sent from 26 countries on six continents, and written in 14 languages — including Irish.

In an interview with the Jesuits, Clara said: “In school we didn’t actually know what it was for; the teacher just passed around a page and everyone wrote down a question.

“I didn’t know what it was for until four months ago maybe, when my Dad told me it was being sent with the letters from Europe.”

Clare Ó Gormáin (with the hairband and white cardigan), standing to the right of Pope Francis.

She felt “amazed” when she discovered her contribution was going to make it into the book, and she subsequently travelled to Rome to meet the Pope alongside the other contributors.

Clara said the group spent an hour with him and he answered each question he had been asked.

“He is very nice and has a very good sense of humour because, when the translator misheard him and said he was 100, the Pope laughed because he thought it was funny.”

There are some poignant moments in the book, such as a question from a boy in Australia called Luca, who asked: “Dear Pope Francis, My Mum is in heaven. Will she grow angel wings?”

The Pope’s reply included the words: “Your Mum is in Heaven, beautiful, splendid, and full of light. She hasn’t grown angel wings. She is still your Mum, the person you know, but more radiant than ever.”

Elsewhere, Mohammed from Syria asked: “Dear Pope Francis, Will the world be again as it was in the past?”

Other questions included “when you were a child, did you like dancing?” and another asked why the Pope needed “that tall hat”.

At yesterday’s launch, Archbishop Martin congratulated Clara, one of three children who lives with her brothers and her parents in Salthill, on her contribution.

The two teachers who coordinated the project at Clara’s school were Nóirín Nic Grianna and Caoimhe Ní Fhríghil. The book is published by Messenger Publications.

Archbishop Martin said at the launch: “While this is being offered as a children’s book, I think it appeals to the child in all of us.

“Pope Francis never comes across as a ‘know-it-all’. That is evident again in this book where it is clear that he is searching, like all of us,” the archbishop added.

www.messenger.ie