Pope Francis landed in Dublin this morning as he begins his two-day trip to Ireland, where he is expected to face protests and criticism over the Catholic Church’s handling of clerical sex abuse scandals.
The 81-year-old touched down in the Irish capital at around 10.30am after an Alitalia flight from Rome. Planes carrying the pontiff have the call sign ‘Shepherd One’.
He greet a country where Catholic loyalties are declining and which recently distanced itself further from the Vatican’s teaching with a referendum vote to legalise abortion.
The streets of Dublin remained quiet early on Saturday morning, where tens of thousands are expected to gather later when he passes through in his Popemobile.
It came as the head of Ireland’s Catholic church said the Pope was facing an ‘impossible task’ to address grievances over historic sexual abuse.
Pope Francis arrives at Dublin International Airport on Saturday for his two-day visit to Ireland
Pope Francis has said he will meet with victims of clerical sex abuse in private when he visits, but protesters are set to gather near Dublin Castle on Saturday following criticism of the Vatican for its slow response to claims of systemic abuse in the U.S.
Archbishop Eamon Martin said survivors were carrying a ‘trauma’ which the Pope’s visit would not be able to heal, Sky News reported.
‘We have no right to think that we can leave it behind us,’ he said.
Earlier this week, the Pope wrote a 2,000-word letter to Catholics in which he condemned the crime of sexual abuse by priests and subsequent cover-ups.
Francis is ostensibly in Ireland to attend the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) – a major global church event focused on promoting family values.
However, he will also fulfil a number of other engagements, including meetings with President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
The Pope emerges in Dublin where he will travel through the city on his Popemobile later on Saturday. Planes carrying him have the code name ‘Shepherd One’
Pope Francis is greeted by members of the clergy and representatives of the Irish Government
On Sunday the Pope will fly west to Co Mayo where he will follow in the footsteps of John Paul II and take part in a religious service at a Holy shrine in Knock.
Yellow and white flags of the Vatican were flying along the River Liffey on Saturday morning to mark the Papal visit.
He will then return to Dublin for the closing centrepiece of the WMOF event – an outdoor Mass in front of an expected congregation of half a million people.
However it was reported earlier this week that some protesters were planning to buy dozens or even hundreds of tickets and then leave the seats empty.
The Pontiff will witness a country that has undergone seismic social changes in the four decades since the last papal visit in 1979, when John Paul II was lauded by a nation shaped by its relationship with an all-powerful Catholic Church.
Referendums to legalise abortion and same-sex marriage have loosened the Catholic influence and earlier this week it emerged that one in three Irish families no longer meet the Vatican’s definition of a nuclear ‘family’.
The Rainbow Choir is made up of LGBT singers and is protesting in Dublin against the exclusion of gay people and their families from the World Meeting Of Families (WMOF).
The head of Ireland’s Catholic church, Eamon Martin (pictured centre) said the Pope was facing an ‘impossible task’ to address grievances over historic sexual abuse
Eddie McGuinness from Dublin LGBTQ Pride carries a rainbow flag across Ha’Penny Bridge, Dublin ahead of the start of the visit to Ireland
Among its supporters are Maria Angalika Fromm, from Germany, who has worked for 50 years for a changed church and said the Pope needed to persist with reforms.
She said: ‘He needs to break down the patriarchal structures and be open to women’s ordination without celibacy and caring for all people including gay and lesbian.
‘He has to go on and not be stopped by the old conservative men in the Vatican.’
Soline Humbert, from Versailles near Paris and aged 62, was a steward at the last papal visit in 1979 looking after lost children.
She works with Women’s Ordination Worldwide and said Vatican files on abuse should be opened.
She said: ‘Unless the truth comes out, and we know that as Christians, and we know that as Catholics, there is no movement forward, there is no resurrection, there is no transformation and trust cannot be re-established until the truth is acknowledged.
‘It is very painful and it will be very disturbing but the truth is buried in the bottom, in the secret archives, of a lot of dioceses and especially in the Vatican.
‘The Pope does need to acknowledge that it was the policy of the Vatican to prevent scandal, and by scandal I mean that the abuse would come to the surface.’