Papal visit could ‘bring healing to North’ – Baroness O’Loan

Former Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan has appealed for Pope Francis to visit the North during his trip to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families this summer, saying he could bring ‘healing’ to the region.

Her suggestion, however, met with a cool reaction, with Vatican officials seemingly feeling it would be difficult to include a Northern element in the Pope’s Irish visit.

“I suggested it, but I found very little warm response to it – it was perceived as too difficult,” she told The Irish Catholic, adding that while she got the sense that this is not currently a live option, “it would be a good thing and a right thing to happen”.

Benefit

A papal visit could be a real benefit to the region, she maintained. “I think there’s a lot of pain and a lot of grief, and there’s a lot of healing required in the North, and I think that the Pope is a person who can bring healing,” she said. “I think his message would be very simple and very clear, and I think it’s one that we would like to hear.”

Baroness O’Loan made the suggestion during a conference held in Rome to mark the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The conference, organised by the British and Irish embassies to the Holy See, brought together the heads of the Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist Churches, alongside key political figures who have been involved in the Peace Process at various stages, including former Minister of State Liz O’Donnell and Alan Whysall, previously a leading civil servant in the UK’s Northern Ireland Office.

The conference was chaired jointly by Ireland’s Ambassador Emma Madigan and the UK’s Sally Axworthy, with Liverpool-born Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, being the keynote speaker.

“I think it went well,” said Baroness O’Loan. “I think that there was an anticipation perhaps that it might be more upbeat, in particular that there might be more to celebrate about the Good Friday Agreement, but in fact the reality is that we are where we are, so it wasn’t upbeat – it was more looking to a way forward,” she said.

Discussions

The conference featured two panel discussions, she explained, with one panel of Church leaders looking at how the Churches can contribute to reconciliation in the North, while Baroness O’Loan took part in a panel that saw various figures from civic society considering the achievements of the last 20 years.

As well as looking at what the Good Friday Agreement had achieved and how far the North has come since 1998, the panel looked at the challenges facing the region today.

“We could also see the massive problems we have now, in particular the absence of a government,” she said. Lamenting on how polarised divisions are between communities in Northern society now, she said “Nothing can be done in the North now. Everything is static, and that’s dangerous.”

During the conference, she said, the Vatican’s deep concern for the North and the ongoing peace process was obvious.

“It was very clear that the Holy See was concerned about the situation in Northern Ireland. They have always been concerned about the North,” she said.