IRELAND
Irish Central
By
ANTOINETTE KELLY,
IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Friday, March 16, 2012, 8:33 AM
Observers say that due to the Catholic Church’s mishandling of the abuse crisis in Ireland it is now inconceivable for Pope Benedict XVI to visit Ireland this summer, despite having received an official invitation to attend the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in June.
The Pontiff is not expected to travel to Dublin for the major international gathering of Catholics. It is understood that Pope Benedict met with Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, the most outspoken critic of the Vatican’s handling of the crisis in Rome this week.
Archbishop Martin can not have left the Pontiff in no doubt about the inadvisability of an Irish papal visit at their time and so instead the 84-year-old Pope has made plans to present a live televised address to an anticipated crowd of more than 80,000 participants, due to attend an open-air Mass in Croke Park entitled Statio Orbis on June 17.
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