IRELAND
The Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent

POPE BENEDICT XVI will not now be making a live broadcast to the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin next Sunday, as had been expected. A pre-recorded message from him will be shown at the closing Mass in Croke Park instead.

Congress general secretary Fr Kevin Doran said yesterday that weather factors influenced the decision to pre-record the message, although it had never been confirmed that a papal broadcast would be “live”.

He said numbers attending the congress were expected to increase as the week progressed, with a full house in Croke Park next Sunday. Tickets remain available for all congress events.

At a press conference at the RDS yesterday, Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin said there was an awareness among the estimated 7,000 pilgrims from abroad attending the congress “that the Irish church has been through difficult times”.