Northern Ireland

Papal visit to the north could yet happen

Pope Francis will visit Ireland in August
Pope Francis will visit Ireland in August Pope Francis will visit Ireland in August

One of Ireland's most senior bishops has opened the possibility of Pope Francis extending his visit to the north when he visits Ireland in August.

The pontiff is due to attend the World Meeting of Families which takes place in Dublin in August.

However, there are no plans in place for him to travel to the north.

It will be the first papal visit to Ireland since Pope John Paul II in 1979. On that occasion he failed to cross the border because of security concerns.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, who is hosting the World Meeting of Families, has given fresh hope that Pope Francis may cross the border this summer.

Asked if he may travel north he said “the Pope is coming for the World Meeting of Families. If they were to organise an event around the family, that might make it easier. Not a political event,” he told the Irish Times.

In an earlier interview with RTÉ radio Archbishop Martin said he would like the visit of Pope Francis “to be very inclusive. It’s a very short visit, I’m worried some of the protocol issues may take more time than meeting the poor”.

Catholics in the north have been left disappointed by the decision.

Editor of the Irish Catholic newspaper Michael Kelly said the church authorities south of the border are increasingly aware of the feelings of northern Catholics.

“I think what you are seeing is a realisation of the disappointment that there is as the visit is scheduled at the minute,” he said.

“The northern Bishops have been impressing this upon their southern colleagues and I know they are trying to make their voices heard.”

He said that the comments by Archbishop Martin may indicate a “sign of a warming to the visit” north.

Mr Kelly said that the current political impasse may remove the any issues around the Pope’s visit becoming a ‘political event’.

“The difficulty around this is, what does he mean by a ‘political event’? he said.

“There are no political institutions in the north and it doesn’t seem that would be much of a difficulty, there is no First Minister or Deputy First Minister to meet.”

Last month the Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown said there is still time for Pope Francis to "reconsider the decision" not to travel north.

"I think we would want to take the feelings of the big congregations that we still have here in the north, make those heard in the Vatican. We are still five months out....to reconsider the decision and have a short visit to the north," he said.