Fianna Fáil’s Senator Aidan Davitt Fianna Fáil’s Senator Aidan Davitt has called on the Government to invite Pope Francis to address the joint Houses of the Oireachtas during his visit to Ireland in 2018.
Senator Davitt said during a radio interview that the Pope’s visit to attend the World Meeting of Families would present “an ideal opportunity” for the Pontiff to meet with legislators and address them as he had done in the United States in 2015 during the last Families gathering.
The senator added that the Pontiff “has a natural connection to Dublin as he lived here for over three months. Pope Francis spent a number of weeks studying English at the Jesuit Milltown Institute in Ranelagh, south Dublin over 30 years ago.”.
In 2014 the Seanad adopted a motion to invite Pope Francis to address the Upper House should he visit Ireland.