Pope's visit to Ireland turning into a fiasco?

[Fake Messiah]

It seems Pope's visit to Ireland is going pretty bad. Not only is the prime-minister gay but also one of the main news is that Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano is calling for Francis to step down because he told Pope Francis in 2013 about allegations of sexual abuse against a prominent priest, McCarrick — and that Francis took no action.

Vigano, who retired in 2016 at age 75, described an exchange with Francis on June 23, 2013, shortly after he became pope, about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, D.C., who resigned last month over claims he sexually abused seminary students and an altar boy.

Vigano writes the pope did not respond to the statement, and McCarrick continued in his role as a public figure for the church.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-franci...ia-vigano/

Maybe they should just arrest the Pope while he's there and put him into a prison. I mean it would make more sense than giving him 5 million euros.

and also people in Ireland don't seem to be very involved into Pope's visit

[Pat Mustard]

I had a quick look at RTÉ's coverage of Bergoglio getting off the plane at Knock, they were talking about crowds out to meet him.

The "crowd" was about three school loads of national school children (elementary school for those not knowledgeable of the Irish system) in their school uniforms (on a Sunday!) and their parents and teachers. So the crowd was a setup of people most of whom were forced into going.

PS: Here's the crowd at the Phoenix Park for the mass:



Considering that it's laid out for 500,000 people and all those going would have been there for a few hours, that looks very sparse to me. We're looking at about 100,000 people, and that's being generous.

Final Edit; Picture courtesy of this Irish Independent article. https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/po...53579.html

[Minimalist]

He's an old pervert in a dress.  Fuck him.

[Angrboda]

I don't think Ireland has much use for the Catholic church any more.

[Abaddon_ire]

I don't think Ireland has much use for the Catholic church any more.

You got that right. I was right there in 1979. This time there looks to have been about a third or less attending and a lot of those were simply there for the spectacle or sheer curiosity.

In 1979, I didn't know anyone who was NOT there. This time I don't know anyone who actually went.

[Pat Mustard]

Initial Garda figures, gotten from the number of tickets scanned, suggest 130,000 turned up. Given that large numbers of tickets were given to foreigners flown in at the church's expense, this is very embarrassing for the holy see.

Especially after the *gasp* gay Taoiseach openly telling Bergoglio that the state needs to divest the catholic privilege earlier in the day.

[brewer]

Questions about the pic.

What the hell were the grids about? 

Are those beer tents that I see?

General question, how much money did Ireland loose?

[Abaddon_ire]

Questions about the pic.

What the hell were the grids about? 

Ticket allocations. Your ticket states which grid square you should be in. Given the poor turnout, that was abandoned and people roamed freely.

Are those beer tents that I see?

I might have gone if they had been.

General question, how much money did Ireland loose?

Haven't seen any estimates. A year ago, the estimate was 20M but that was a pure guess by the bishops. The only hard figure I have yet seen is 5M in cops overtime alone.

[Pat Mustard]

€39m in security, lost taxes for lower shopping footfall in Dublin, the shopkeepers are saying c. 30% down over the weekend, a few hundred thousand lost in waived public transport fees for attendees, clean up costs &c.

I asked the Cig* about it as he was up yesterday as a coordinator and he said the 130,000 figure was about right.

*Cig=Cigire=Inspector≈Police Lt.

[Jehanne]

It seems Pope's visit to Ireland is going pretty bad. Not only is the prime-minister gay but also one of the main news is that Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano is calling for Francis to step down because he told Pope Francis in 2013 about allegations of sexual abuse against a prominent priest, McCarrick — and that Francis took no action.

Vigano, who retired in 2016 at age 75, described an exchange with Francis on June 23, 2013, shortly after he became pope, about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, D.C., who resigned last month over claims he sexually abused seminary students and an altar boy.

Vigano writes the pope did not respond to the statement, and McCarrick continued in his role as a public figure for the church.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-franci...ia-vigano/

Maybe they should just arrest the Pope while he's there and put him into a prison. I mean it would make more sense than giving him 5 million euros.

and also people in Ireland don't seem to be very involved into Pope's visit

Absolutely incredible; I would have never guessed that it was this bad!  But, it's following the historical tend over the last few centuries; for instance, the dedication of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City drew an overflow crowd to a Mass that was five hours long!  These days some priests will say a "golfer's mass" that gets people in and out within 20 minutes or less.