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Remembering Pope John Paul II in Clonmacnois - 19th September 2004
The circumstances in which we are celebrating the Silver Jubilee of the Papal Visit of 1979 are quite extraordinary, even miraculous, some would say. If history were our guide, then we should have looked forward to celebrating this Jubilee in the pontificate of a different pope from the man who set foot on Irish soil in 1979. Few men have lived twenty-five years as pope and none has survived so serious an assassination attempt as the present one. This is a Silver Jubilee of a unique kind, gifted to us, a bonus on top of that wondrous weekend in 1979 when the successor of St Peter stood on Irish soil. Let's see it as a gift and a grace and make the most of it.
We had in Ireland the great privilege of having the pope in our midst while he was at the beginning of his ministry and the height of his powers. He was 59 years old and looked much less. He spoke English, something that few of his predecessors were prepared for, in least in public. He even said a few words in Irish as well. He could communicate with us not just in words but in those gestures and smiles which somehow closed the gap between pope and people. The ordinary Catholic felt that we had someone in Rome more like a much loved Parish Priest than a Pope. A vibrant and charismatic man, Pope John Paul was indeed like the breath of the Spirit. If the Pope John Paul returns to Ireland, which we hope he will, we will welcome an elderly and frail man. Whether his coming is possible or not we should be happy to know that this man who brought us excitement and pride in the faith in 1979 finds his heart drawn back to us again. That alone should boost our spirits. In his old age he is the "Suffering Servant", Christlike as never before.
Commentators are quick to say that the pope would find Ireland to be a very different place. This is very true. If the pope were being shown Dublin city from the air now, he would see expansion everywhere. He would see the same in Drogheda, the same in Galway and Limerick. He would be pleased to see and hear all about our progress. He would rejoice in the fact that much of that progress owes a lot to the coming of peace for which he pleaded in 1979.
When people write about the changes in our country since the Papal Visit, they are generally talking of another kind of change. Some of the positive things that made us feel good about ourselves as Catholics in 1979 have been caught in the hurricane of change that has hit society and Church. Materially Ireland is evidently in a healthy state and yet there are many signs that we are in fact less happy for that. You could say that a lot of spiritual power lines are down, some lights not functioning. But the Good News still brings hope and the lives of many are still an inspiration, a living Gospel.
One of the places where the pope visited when in Ireland that has not changed is Clonmacnois. The ruins that he saw are still as they were and will remain so. Their message is even more significant now. Ironically it is these buildings which were battered and broken down in the turbulent history of Clonmacnois that speak of indestructibility. What is now new and gleaming is symbolic of transience.
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