DUBLIN, IRELAND — Delivering Mass under stormy Dublin skies, Pope Francis gave an unplanned speech on abuse to hundreds of thousands of faithful in Phoenix Park and asked for forgiveness.
Just three miles away, down the winding River Liffey, many gathered for an unprecedented protest in the Garden of Remembrance. Several protesters said the Pontiff’s words failed to address their fury over a long list of church-related abuses in Ireland.
“I’m sure the Pope was sincere in his apology, but it needs to be followed up by action,” said Jenny Moore-Mcgowan, 47, holding a sign that read: “Apologies are not enough.”
“We can never, ever, ever have these abuses again in Ireland. The lives of people for generations were ruined, not just the people who were in the institutional schools, the Magdalene Laundries, the mother-and-baby homes, but their children and grandchildren. It ran right through this country like a virus.”
The Pope’s visit to Ireland came amid an intensifying outcry over a global clerical sex abuse crisis, following damning reports in the United States, Chile, and Australia, detailing decades of institutional cover-ups. The revelations hung like a cloud over the trip, the first papal visit to the country since 1979, when Pope John Paul II was greeted here like a rock star.
In Temple Bar, a nightlife quarter packed with pubs, you wouldn’t know the Pope was in town, save for a few fluttering Vatican flags and shuttered streets. At one of the few papal souvenir stands in the city center, Paul Preston said he was having trouble selling merchandise.
Forgiveness, but no solutions
Nearly four decades after John Paul II’s visit, Ireland is almost unrecognizable. It has broken from church teachings to legalize divorce, contraception, same-sex marriage, and just a few months ago, abortion. Leo Varadkar, the country’s first openly gay prime minister, gave an impassioned speech Saturday calling on the Pope to use his “office and influence” to bring about justice, truth, and healing for victims and survivors.
His forceful words were what many in Ireland had hoped to hear from Pope Francis himself during Mass.
“The Pope needs to take responsibility for the actions of his clergy,” said Aoibhin Meghen, a 19-year-old from the Dublin suburb of Dalkey, who attended Sunday’s Mass with her mother. “Although he hopefully hasn’t had any involvement in the abuse, he is the figurehead for the church, so it’s his responsibility to promise action and retribution for the people who have been wronged.”
Just hours before celebrating Mass, Pope Francis faced calls for his resignation from the former Vatican ambassador to Washington, who said the Pontiff did nothing about allegations of sexual abuse against the prominent Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, despite knowing about them in 2013.
In his homily on Sunday, the Pope acknowledged “abuses of power and conscience” in Ireland, and asked for forgiveness for all the times that the church did not provide survivors with compassion, justice, truth, or “concrete actions.”
The Pontiff didn’t offer any specific solutions. Critics say he hasn’t gone far enough in articulating concrete steps to stop and punish abuses.
“Speak the truth. That’s what we’re asking for,” Hayley Brabazon, a 21-year-old from Dublin, said, calling on the church to come forward with the names of all priests disciplined over abuse. “It’s very simple, it all needs to come out. They need to speak the truth — the bishops, the priests, the Pope himself, who are protecting these monsters, they need to speak up. And it’s about time the Irish people stood up to them.”
A different Ireland
The same refrain was echoed by many protesters at the “Stand for Truth” rally, organized by Colm O’Gorman, a survivor of abuse who is now executive director of Amnesty International Ireland. About 5,000 people, including women’s rights groups, LGBT organizations, and abuse survivors, came out to stand in solidarity with those who have suffered under Catholic-run institutions in Ireland.
“The Ireland that welcomed John Paul in 1979 is not the same Ireland anymore. It’s completely changed. There are a lot of hurt people in this country,” O’Rourke said, wiping away tears. “After the changes we’ve seen bring so much joy, to have the Pope come here is just a slap in the face.”
