Pope Francis: Headlines on papal visits to Ireland show how country has changed

Pope Francis's visit culminated in an open-air Sunday Mass in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, where pilgrims’s attendance was a fraction of the million people who greeted Pope John Paul II at the same spot in 1979.

Almost 40 years separated the visits of Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis to Ireland, and the contrasts between the tone of the two events are thrown into sharp focus even just from a glance at the headlines covering each event at the time.

If the theme of the first papal visit was a celebration, then the tone for the second visit was more akin to seeking forgiveness.

In the Cork Examiner on October 1, 1979, an image of the pontiff was accompanied by the headline: “Young Ireland hails Pope for all ages”.

Inside the newspaper, further headlines declared things such as “Pope shares nation’s tears of happiness” and “Going to Mass will never be the same again”.

One newspaper headline even said: '‘A jolly good fellow,’ sing the media'

On August 27, 2018, the Irish Examiner let the image speak for itself on the front page while, inside, the very different mood to the visit of Pope Francis was reflected.

“Public act of contrition helps to clear the air for a festival of the faithful,” was the headline across pages two and three.

Other headlines said how “Francis asks forgiveness for abuse and cover-up”, while we also heard how “thousands of dissenting voices speak out against visit”.

The legacy of church abuse cast a long shadow over Pope Francis’s visit, during which he addressed a litany of crimes by its institutions and members.

Popemobile in city centre

The pontiff visited Ireland for two days in August 2018, which included a visit to Knock shrine in Co Mayo, a meeting with victims of clerical abuse, and a visit to a homeless centre run by the Capuchin Fathers.

It also included a dash through Dublin City centre, where thousands of onlookers caught just a glimpse of the Popemobile as it sped past, as well as the Festival of Families in Croke Park — which featured performances from Andrea Bocelli and Daniel O’Donnell.

The visit culminated in an open-air Sunday Mass in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, where pilgrims’s attendance was a fraction of the million people who greeted Pope John Paul II at the same spot in 1979.

It nevertheless still had plenty of eyes on it, as RTÉ reported an audience of 1.1m viewers tuning in for at least a portion of the broadcast.

During the Phoenix Park Mass, he asked for “forgiveness for the abuses in Ireland” and for “pardon for all the abuses committed in various types of institutions”.

The visit prompted several demonstrations, including at a mass grave of infants at a former home for unmarried mothers in Co Galway, and at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin.

Colm O’Gorman, a survivor of clerical abuse and the former head of Amnesty International Ireland, organised the rally at the Garden of Remembrance to coincide with the Phoenix Park Mass.

Mr O’Gorman said it was an “extraordinary” show of “powerful solidarity and purpose”.

He said that it was initially dismissed that Pope Francis would address a series of abuse and mistreatment scandals by the Catholic Church, which he said would have been “completely unacceptable”.

What popes generally do — and that includes, sadly, Pope Francis — is they speak of their regret and sadness, or sorrow at the hurt caused to so many people

“That’s not an apology. It’s an expression of sorrow,” he added.

However, Mr O’Gorman said he has “enormous regard” for the late pontiff’s empathy towards refugees and migrants.

He added that Pope Francis’s stance on women’s rights and LGBT+ issues had been “open and non-judgmental”.

A more liberal approach to social issues emphasised why his response to clerical abuse in Ireland was “such a disappointment”, Mr O’Gorman added.