Pope Francis has faced controversy and protests at every turn during his time Ireland and today is set to be no different as activists will be out in full force in Dublin today while the closing Papal Mass of the World Meeting of Families in conducted.
The Pope has had to confront the full-scale of betrayal and hurt harboured by many Irish people who have been horrifically betrayed by the Catholic Church in the wake of multiple Clerical sex abuse scandals. While 500,000 Irish people are set to receive Mass with the Pope today, the pain of the Church's failings will never be far away from the minds of everyone celebrating the first Papal visit to Ireland in 39 years.
Trust in the Catholic Church has been derailed after years of betrayal
The Pope received stark warnings about the Church's behaviour before he even arrived in the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, ordered the Pope to take visceral action against any member of the Catholic Church who has been involved either in sexual abuse or in covering-up the scandals rather than reporting their knowledge of abuse to the police and the Vatican. Mr Varadkar even told the media that he is glad the Catholic Church does not play such an integral role in Irish society as it once did, citing that the Catholic establishment once played too much of an influential role in the formation of public policy and laws.
It has been necessary for the Pope to emphasise the Church's repentance for the decades of pain and misery caused by Clerical abuse, as the Church has struggled to regain any of the trust which was lost while its multiple scandals unfolded. On Saturday, the first day of his visit to Ireland, the Pope told a crowd at Dublin castle of the shame felt by the whole of the Catholic Church over the 'repellent crimes' which had been committed by members of the clergy.
The pontiff has also been reported as telling a group of sexual abuse survivors that Clerical abuse is 'filth,' a strong word for someone who has been accused by other Church officials as not taking sufficient action against perpetrators.
While his visit to Ireland has been ongoing, Pope Francis has faced calls from a senior Vatican official to resign, claiming that the Pope did not act on his alleged five years' worth of knowledge concerning abuse conducted by a US cardinal after only accepting his resignation last month.
Pope Francis faces a challenging time during his visit to a much-changed Ireland
Since the last Papal visit to Ireland, 39 years ago, the Republic of Ireland has changed considerably. During the 39 years, Ireland has legalised divorce, abortion, same-sex marriage, as well as contraception which are all things the Catholic Church warns against and is regarded as sinful by many traditionalists.
The fact that the Pope was received by an openly gay Irish Prime Minister in Mr Varadkar is significant in itself, especially as the Irish PM has been outspoken in telling the Pope that the social climate of Ireland is no longer one which is dictated to by Catholic teaching and rules.
In the presence of the Pope, Mr Varadkar spoke of how Irish modernisation has led to widespread acceptance "that families come in many forms" rather than the traditional nuclear family which the Catholic Church promotes.
Strong criticism of the Vatican and its handling of multiple scandals shows no sign of abating and Pope Francis faces a long period of attempting to rebuild trust in the Church before being able to see whether it will ever be possible to make amends for the crimes which have been committed.
