Readers' blog: Pope should not be facing our protests
I would like to express some personal views on Pope Francis’s visit, the World Meeting of Families, and the Roman Curia.
This may come as a surprise to many, but the pontiff, regrettably, is not in the position that he is free to do as he pleases.
He has to consider the curia, which is the governing body of the Catholic Church, and let no one underestimate its power.
Some examples: Marie Collins and another man resigned from the Vatican’s Commission for the Protection of Minors as their views were not taken into consideration; Mary McAleese was not allowed to speak in the Vatican on International Women’s Day, by Cardinal Kevin Farrell.
When Pope John Paul I died after a short reign of 33 days, Pope John Paul II, aged 57, a man of charm and strength, was elected.
What may not be known to younger readers is that when he was elected Pope in 1978 he wished to be known as Pope Stanislaus, which is a very Polish name.
It was not allowed by the curia, as it probably wanted to show continuation of the Church and a young healthy man, so he became Pope John Paul II instead.
These are just the examples of the curia’s power that I know of.
I quote these as the Say Nope to the Pope group, which marched in protest against the visit of Pope Francis, might have the wrong target.
It was surprising that Pope Francis was unaware of the Magdalene laundries and the fate of the Tuam babies.
In every Catholic country there is a papal nuncio who is the Pope’s representative and whose function is to keep the Pope familiar with any information he needs to know.
Why did he not inform the Pope of the laundries and the Tuam babies?
Our own bishops report individually once every five years.
I am not criticising papal nuncios or bishops, as I don’t know the answer, but as a practising Catholic, I am stating this out of honesty.
Now Pope Francis is fully aware that Ireland is a secular state and he faces the power of the curia.
During the run-up to the visit of Pope Francis, there was a lot of negative media attention.
I know these events are very important but I feel that the World Meeting of Families was hijacked by these groups and Pope Francis did not get a fair hearing on the reason for which he was here.
When Pope John Paul II arrived in Ireland in 1979, it was a very different time.
The Pope had a free hand and the only problem here was violence in Northern Ireland which we were all against anyway.
He went as far north as he could, to Drogheda, as he was rightly advised not to cross the border.
In a powerful speech, he said: “On my knees I beg you to turn away from the paths of violence.”
As we know they did not. By going to Drogheda, Northern Ireland Catholics were able to see and hear him.
Pope Francis had much more issues to face, and spent a lot of time asking for forgiveness.
These are the way I saw events unfolding.
