Say Nope to the Pope: Irish snap up tickets to see pontiff - with no plan to go

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Say Nope to the Pope: Irish snap up tickets to see pontiff – with no plan to go

In mass protest, demonstrators against Catholic church apply for free tickets but will not be attending

Harriet Sherwood, religion correspondent
Thu 23 Aug 2018 10.39 BST

When free tickets for the mass to be celebrated by Pope Francis in Phoenix Park in Dublin were advertised, Mary Coll applied for two – one in her name and the other in the name of her birth mother, who gave her up for adoption in 1962.

But Coll will not be using the tickets. “This is my protest, not to go,” she said. Instead, she will drive from her home in Limerick to Tuam, where a vigil will be held at the site of a mass grave discovered last year at a former Catholic church mother-and-baby home. It contained the remains of up to 800 infants.

Coll got the idea of applying but not using tickets for the mass on Sunday from Say No to the Pope, a campaign of “silent and peaceful protest” against his visit. The group’s Facebook page has about 9,000 supporters.

Michael Stewart, one of the organisers, said the idea resonated with people “because it’s an effective form of protest”.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/23/ireland-catholic-church-protesters-pope-mass-tickets-protest

[hlthe2b]

1. This Pope is seemingly the most open to change we've seen in millenia...

I can understand the intense desire to address this long ignored horror, but seems to me this merely gives Pope Francis' many ultra conservative enemies more ammunition against him?

[trotsky]

2. Key word: "seemingly."

Nothing has changed.

[OnDoutside]

4. Exactly. My wife took my 12 year old to mass last Sunday and he

was the youngest there, with a few under 20. The majority of the one third full attendance were 50 plus. They're fooling no one. The Abortion referendum in May says all you need to know, about the Church's standing.

[trotsky]

5. It's encouraging to see what's been happening in Ireland.

A country that has suffered greatly from the crimes of the Catholic Church.

[OnDoutside]

7. Yes it has been a long road but we are getting to a better society. There's a

distance to go, but we are far more open than 40 years ago.

[Igel]

10. Death penalty. n/t

[trotsky]

14. That's fan-fucking-tastic.

Does it help keep priests from raping children, and being protected by the church?

[OnDoutside]

3. No, even for his visit the abused are being treated like an

Inconvenience by the Catholic hierarchy organising the event. As an Irish Catholic, I support the victims. It's a pity I didn't know about this, I'd have done the same.

[marylandblue]

6. Not millenia really. Most open since John XXIII, who called the Vatican II Council

Time now for Vatican III, to address their many challenging issues. But I don't know if Francis is up for the task.

[Voltaire2]

9. And yet he's changed nothing.

[Lordquinton]

13. Sends a message to him directly

people aren't buying what he's selling.

[Pope George Ringo II]

8. Ireland's got more reason than most to shun the catholics.

Fintan O'Toole has some thoughts on the subject.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/it-s-too-late-not-even-pope-francis-can-resurrect-catholic-ireland-1.3605271

The mention of Marie Collins is worth remembering. A church abuse survivor, she tried to help them get their house in order. They ignored her because they wanted to put on a show rather than solve anything. That's the problem in a nutshell.

[LuvNewcastle]

11. The Catholic Church abused Ireland for centuries.

It's a wonder that the Pope can even show his face there. I don't think he'll be bringing people back into the fold. The damage is done.

[Pope George Ringo II]

12. Under 130,000 people attend Papal Mass in Phoenix Park

http://www.thejournal.ie/papal-mass-phoenix-park-crowd-size-4202680-Aug2018/

Gardaí recording the number of people who entered the park today estimated that less than 130,000 – roughly a quarter of the amount expected - arrived at the site between this morning and the end of this afternoon’s events.

Sean Spicer says 4.2 million showed up, making it even more popular than the 1979 papal visit.

Seriously, druids couldn't get that much green at a service.

[Pope George Ringo II]

15. Businesses down 6m as shoppers stay out of Dublin city during papal visit

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/pope-francis-in-ireland/businesses-down-6m-as-shoppers-stay-out-of-dublin-city-during-papal-visit-37255007.html

So, he was on the wrong end of a talking-to from the Prime Minister, he got less than 5% of the turnout from the last time a pope tried to cast spells on a crowd, thousands of counter-protesters marched from the site of one church atrocity to another, and he cost local business six million Euros.

That went well.