IRELAND
The Independent
August 20, 2018
By Joe Sommerlad
Holy Father, 81, to give papal mass at World Meeting of Families gathering at Phoenix Park
Pope Francis will visit Ireland this weekend, the first time the head of the Catholic Church has done so since 1979.
The pontiff, 81, will touch down in Dublin to address the World Meeting of Families and find himself in a very different country to that John Paul II toured almost 40 years ago.
The prospect of his eminence’s imminence is nevertheless causing a stir, with enterprising retailers seizing the opportunity to shift merchandise to the devout and doing a roaring trade in everything from collapsible cardboard chairs to tote bags, candles, mugs, umbrellas and sticky “Lollipopes”.
Here’s everything you need to know.
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