i'm annita mcveigh live in dublin — the headlines at 11: pope francis has arrived in ireland for the first papal visit in almost a0 years. the pope is expected to be welcomed by around half a million people in dublin. but the visit comes as criticism continues about the catholic church's handling of child abuse by priests. i'll be bringing you all the latest live from dublin. and i'm shaun ley — the other headlines this hour... women in england are to be allowed to take the second of two early abortion pills in their own homes instead of in a clinic. holiday—makers arrive home after being flown back early from an egyptian hotel, following the unexplained deaths of a british couple. thousands of rohingya muslim refugees have taken part in a demonstration marking one year since their exodus from myanmar following a military crackdown.

the family of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, a british—iranian woman imprisoned in iran on spying charges, are fighting for her three—day temporary release to be extended. it's always been steps forward and steps back, so i shouldn't get too ahead of ourselves. but hopefully, it will be a good day today and tomorrow. hello and welcome to dublin, the setting for the papal visit, the visit of pope francis this weekend, the first visit by a pope to the

country in almost a0 years. 1979, john paul ii, that was the last time a pope came to the country. ireland has changed vastly in that time in terms of society, its relationship with the church and of course, in that time, many dark scandals have come to light including the abuse of children by catholic priests and in catholic run institutions. so it is a different ireland that this pope is coming to. let's look at the live pictures as the pope's motorcade makes its way from dublin airport to the official residence of the president of ireland, michael d higgins, who will be greeting the pope shortly, along with his wife, sabine. they will have discussions. the pope will plant and irish oak

tree post to the oak tree planted by john paul ii in 1979. then the pope will make his way to dublin castle where i am speaking to you from he will be the irish prime minister, the taoiseach, leo varadkar. and he will deliver a speech. that is one of the key parts of this visit to look out for. what will he said on the subject of the abuse of children? will he set out any concrete measures to deal with those who abuse or those who cover up abuse? that is what many are looking for. the eyes of the world are on ireland this weekend for what the pope might say on that subject in the wake of further revelations around the world on abuse, including, most recently, that grand jury including, most recently, that grand jury report in pennsylvania which

implicated 300 priests in the abuse of more than 1000 children in the 19705 and 19805. pope francis arrived at dublin airport in the last 30 minutes. the alitalia flight brought him from rome with the callsign shepherd one, arriving at dublin airport, where he was greeted by archbishops and the deputy prime minister of ireland and other dignitaries at the beginning of this two—day visit. before we discuss this visit further, let's look at this visit further, let's look at this report from andrew plant, who looks at the weekend ahead and how ireland has changed since the last papal visit in 1979. in 1979, whenjohn paul ii came to ireland, 90% of catholics attended weekly mass.

contraception, abortion and divorce were against the law here. now that figure is a0%, and it is a very different ireland that will greet pope francis. i think in the past, the catholic church had too much of a dominant place in our society. it still has a place in society, but not one that determines public policy or determines our laws. many are using the pope's visit to raise awareness of the catholic church's sexual abuse scandal. this art installation detailing the suffering of victims, these projections on dublin's general post 0ffice doing the same, alongside the hashtag #standfortruth. a series of inquiries here over a number of years exposed widespread

sexual abuse by priests in various areas of ireland. pope francis is expected to meet with victims in private during his two—day trip. but with ongoing scandals exposed in several countries worldwide, many believe the catholic church faces a crisis of credibility that will overshadow this visit from the outset. and you just caught a glimpse of michael d higgins, the irish president, waiting to receive pope francis at aras an uachtarain, his official residence at phoenix park in dublin in the next few moments. we will keep an eye on that. but joining me here at dublin castle is gina menzies, a theologian and lecturer in bioethics at the royal couege lecturer in bioethics at the royal college of surgeons and a member of we are church ireland, a group which is working to reform the catholic

church. as far as you are concerned, what is the primary thing that you wa nt to what is the primary thing that you want to hear in pope francis‘ visit this weekend? following the pennsylvania report, which i had to read and it should come with a health warning, it is horrific and it was done by outside experts, which makes it very valid and it is done on the basis of significant evidence, what all of us in the catholic church would like to see is that the pope would make a significant statement not just saying sorry, because we have heard sorry from a number of popes and a number of people in the institution. we now want a pope who says, i am going to take serious action. what the pennsylvania report reveals more than anything is the cover—up. we all know evil things happened, but the cover—up is really documented 110w. the cover—up is really documented now. that report says that bishops,

archbishops and cardinals all couuded archbishops and cardinals all colluded to cover up what was happening. to protect the reputation of the church. to protect the reputation of the institution. 0ne heartbreaking thing was that there wasn‘t a single line in the report which talked about the care of children. the children were com pletely children. the children were completely objectified. these priests dehumanised children so that they could do anything to them. the last line of that report says that a church which is a great religion, and catholicism is one of the world‘s great religions, how could allow so many of its shepherds to prey on its flock? we now need to see this pope stepped up. and if it means that many archbishops and cardinals have to be stepped down, so be it, because nothing will now suffice. what is stopping the church

and the pope from doing that? the reputational damage has been done. the pope himself has talked about not only the abuse, but the cover—up of the abuse. he said in response to that pennsylvania grand jury report, we didn‘t protect the little ones. the pope has said many things and none of us would disagree with it. but words are easy. we can all say sorry. even in the catholic, sacramental kind of tradition, i‘m sorry means more than just saying it, it means doing something different. the commission was set up in 201a with one of our own survivors, mary collins. and eventually in exasperation, she and peter saunders, an english man and another survivor, resigned because nothing was happening. and it seems that that commission which was set up that that commission which was set up in the vatican was blocked all the time by the curia and by the

vatican bureaucrats. it is a tough job. can one person change all this? but he does have that authority and if it means clearing out the vatican offices, so be it. nothing else will revive the catholic church for many ordinary catholics. earlier, you said people feel freer under this pope to say what they think. if we ta ke pope to say what they think. if we take that as a starting point and people are saying what they think, does the catholic church need to embrace the change that is being called for, the change that is happening in ireland, with gay marriage, abortion and so on, in order to survive, particularly in europe? i think you're right. under this pope, people do feel freer to speak. the conversations which are happening this weekend would not

have happened during the last papal visit. to mention the word abortion on the airwaves would almost not have happened. so ireland is in a different place. if you look at the first few decades of this state, you will find that our legislation is worth catholic first and legislative second. we now have legislators who are legislators. that doesn‘t mean the church is excluded from the public forum. all churches have a legitimacy to argue for their position in relation to social issues. but at the end of the day, legislators have to legislate. you also mentioned freedom. under the previous two popes, almost 100 theologians were silenced. we have six irish priests who were also silenced. so we are pleased that this silencing is now overridden. these priests are no longer silenced and can minister to everybody. to

what extent has ireland lost its faith, not in god, but in the hierarchy of the catholic church? in 1981, 90 3% of the population said they were catholics. in 2016, the most they were catholics. in 2016, the m ost rece nt they were catholics. in 2016, the most recent census, that was down to 78%. so to what extent has ireland lost its faith? i think ireland hasn‘t lost its faith, but has lost faith in the institution. many people have decoupled from the edicts that come from the vatican. but at ground level, i have met many priests who now feel a certain freedom in how they run their parishes. the european value survey in recent years, which has looked at all religions across europe, has found that where people have a local connection to a community, they will

continue to live their faith but they will have nothing to do with they will have nothing to do with the authoritarian, monarchical, non—democratic vatican kind of church. sorry! you are swiping away a wasp! pope francis has an opportunity to do something about that this weekend. he has an enormous opportunity, but one of the sad thing is that he has knocked surrounded himself with a team which is radical enough. and he has com pletely is radical enough. and he has completely excluded women from those teams. even though a few women have been appointed in the vatican, women are not allowed to administrate. in the catholic church and, only those who interpret scripture are the ordained. 0ne who interpret scripture are the ordained. one thing i have always found fascinating is that when you look at the last 120 years, when you look at the last 120 years, when you look at the last 120 years, when you look at papers to do with social and

economicjustice and climate change, the popes have always gone outside their own members and looked to experts to inform their insights and have written accordingly. those documents have changed in the last century. but when you look at the church teaching about women and human sexuality, particularly about their attitude to lgbt people, they are not informed by those experts, as if they have the absolute tune and they work on this notion of complement turreted between our understanding of genders which has been completely eroded by all the psychology and the recent scientific research. that is a fascinating contrast that you draw attention to. if we look at surveys in ireland, the association of catholic priests over the summer survey nearly 1a00 people, asking them what they would say to the pope if they had a chance. 0ne say to the pope if they had a chance. one of the primary proposals was an equal role for women in the

church. are we talking about ordination of women? ordination is a huge part of it. i know many ordained women in the church of ireland and the other christian churches. people have welcomed them. there is a strange thing that is said by those who are opposed to change. they say, look at the other christian churches. it hasn‘t changed them. but the point is not that women are better, but that to exclude half of the human race from the decision—making side of the church seems to me to be extraordinary. every organisation, the bbc included, is looking at how they achieve their objectives and with these days embrace the notion of diversity. and it is notjust diversity of gender, it is diversity of culture, of race and thinking. and all the organisations that have embraced diversity are much more enriched. so here we have an

institution which doesn‘t seem to see those kind of insights. and when the pope meets leo varadkar, the irish prime minister, he is meeting someone who is the embodiment of change in irish society. he is a gay prime minister. that probably would have been unthinkable not long ago in ireland, someone who was raised a catholic but is no longer a practising catholic, who has called for a new chapter in the relationship between the new church and state and says he doesn‘t recognise some of the language that the catholic church uses to describe lg bt the catholic church uses to describe lgbt people, the catholic church uses to describe lg bt people, for example. the catholic church uses to describe lgbt people, for example. that will bea lgbt people, for example. that will be a fascinating meeting. lgbt people, for example. that will be a fascinating meetinglj lgbt people, for example. that will be a fascinating meeting. i think thatis be a fascinating meeting. i think that is going to be private, but our taoiseach, leo, has said he will raise as many of the issues that are pertinent to the irish population as he can. i noticed when the pope was arriving at aras an uachtarain, he is also meeting the gay minister for

children. so he is meeting a very different ireland. in my own group, we have a petition saying to the pope, for heaven ‘s sake, you must remove this language about being irredeemably distorted or evil from anything that is said about lgbt people. it is extraordinary. with a pen, that could be worked out tomorrow. that would be one of the smaller things he could do. one of the easier things he could do. smaller things he could do. one of the easier things he could dam smaller things he could do. one of the easier things he could do. it is certainly not small to some. that was the wrong word, he doesn‘t need to set up a commission to do that, just do it, like the nike ad. there area just do it, like the nike ad. there are a few things he could just do. there are a few things which are more complicated, but i think he‘s been deprived. he set up a commission when he became pope, a kind of kitchen cabinet of nine cardinals. four of them have already

had to leave because of its use about abuse. —— issues about abuse. the finances were corrupt and disorganised and he brought in cardinal pell, who did seem to sort them out. so if that was done relatively quickly, can that not be donein relatively quickly, can that not be done in relation to all these other issues which wound so many of the people in the church who say that the gospel message is worthy and is of value. but many people in ireland and perhaps throughout the world still retain their christian faith in spite of, not because of the institution. gina, just stay with me as we pause to take stock of the images of the pope‘s motorcade making its way, approaching phoenix

park, where the residents of the irish prime minister is, aras an uachtarain. i am sure much is going through the pope‘s mind as he travels through the city about what this weekend has in store and the words he is going to say both in his speech here at dublin castle, the homily at the mass in phoenix park tomorrow at the end of that world meeting, a family celebration. also the meeting he is expected to have with the survivors of sexual abuse by priests. we are told that that meeting is private. we will not be hearing that it has happened until after it has happened. church officials are saying it is up to the survivors to speak about that if

they want to. 0r survivors to speak about that if they want to. or if they want to keep it private, that they are free to do that. it will be interesting to do that. it will be interesting to see if any survivors do make the decision to talk openly about the meeting they have with the pope to tell us what they said to him and what he says to them, because that is arguably the dominant issue of this visit. is arguably the dominant issue of this visit. our guest gina was saying to me that the pope may take some concrete steps. he has issued apologies before, but will he go further in setting out steps to tackle abuse and the cover—ups of abuse that have been uncovered in the last a0 years since the last papal visit? you can see that

magnificent aerial shot through phoenix park, the residents of the irish president, michael d higgins. and in irish naval service guard of honour waiting to greet the pope when he arrives. he himself is in a relatively humble skoda car, reflecting his work with the poor throughout his ministry and the skewing —— issuing the trappings of his role within the catholic church, perhaps. gina menzies is still with me at dublin castle. we were just talking about the role of women in the church and whether potentially, there would be a role for women

priests in the church, whether the catholic church would take that step. but in the words of father brendan hoban, one of the members of the association of catholic priests, there is here what he calls a eucharistic famine, which is the catholic priest training seminary here in ireland. there were fewer than ten recruits, if i can use that word, in the last intake. it was a building designed to accommodate 500 trainee priests each year, but fewer than ten. so something has to be done to get new blood into the parishes of ireland? there are two things there. the organisation i belong to absolutely supports the desire to have women ordained in the church. but it is almost broader than that. the whole understanding of ministry for the 21st century needs to be looked at. i don‘t see

merit. pope francis has constantly talked about the need to declare archives —— declericalise the church. so to have more priests is not the answer. let'sjust church. so to have more priests is not the answer. let's just take church. so to have more priests is not the answer. let'sjust take a look as the motorcade draws up at aras an uachtarain, the residence of the irish president, michael d higgins, waiting with his wife sabina, to greet pope francis. beautiful setting in phoenix park in dublin. as pope francis emerges from the car, we must remember that he is

in his 805 now. still keeps up a pretty punishing schedule. there is michael d higgins, the irish president. they have met before, including at the pope‘s inauguration in 2013, and last year, when president higgins presented the pontiff with a climber bell by the irish artist vivian roach, you piece designed to warn about the threat of climate change, which is an issue on which both men have expressed their concern. the guard of honour, made up concern. the guard of honour, made up of members of the irish naval service, who have been taking part in operation sophia in the mediterranean sea, aimed at disrupting the activities of people smugglers and assisting migrants to prevent the loss of life at sea,

again something which pope francis has spoken about. so the beginning ofa has spoken about. so the beginning of a day of engagements here in dublin for pope francis. and we will be bringing you full coverage of those events. brass band plays. the army number one band, playing now for pope francis before a formal

tree—planting now for pope francis before a formal tree—pla nting ceremony that now for pope francis before a formal tree—planting ceremony that will ta ke tree—planting ceremony that will take place here at the irish president‘shome. more coverage throughout the day. let‘s see what is coming our way this weekend. tomorrow is not a great day, a wash—out for some of us, but until that happens, today is not bad. sunshine and a few showers. here is the latest satellite image. all of our weather is sinking in from the north. this is where the jet stream is coming from. it has been dragging in colder airfrom the polar regions. that is why it felt so chilly first thing this morning. tonight, parts of the country will turn pretty nippy as well. let‘s concentrate on the weather from midday onwards. a lot of fine

weather across the uk. you will hardly notice the showers on the weather map because they will be very small and will not last long. you will be unlikely to catch them. for most of us, a fine day. not a desperately warm day, but the sun is still strong. a beautiful evening out there. there will be nice sunsets. tonight, this weatherfront is heading our way with some wet weather. it will be reaching northern ireland in the morning, but eastern areas should just about stay dry. the wet weather is brought by low pressure, which is going to park itself right on top of the uk during the middle of the day. hence, it is not looking pretty for most of us on sunday afternoon. from morning onwards, the weather front sweeps into western areas of the uk initially. the east may stay dry. norwich could hang onto dry weather until midday. by then, most of us

will have had a good dose of rape. and the rain will be heavy —— a good dose of rain. and it will be heavy. this is sunday night into monday. that rain has swept up into the north sea. there is another system heading our way, but monday is not looking too bad. there are couple of in the forecast. but bank holiday monday across england and wales is looking fine. and it is not bad across scotland and northern ireland. have a great week. hello, and a warm welcome to dateline london, i‘mjane hill. today we‘re assessing significance — of the first papal visit to ireland for nearly a0 years — and of some seismic shocks in us

politics, as two key former allies of president trump face prison. with me are: the columnist for the guardian newspaper polly toynbee. catherine pepinster, former editor of the catholic newspaper the tablet. suzanne lynch, the washington correspondent for the irish times. and the american writer and broadcasterjef mcallister. as we go to air, pope francis, the leader of the world‘s 1.3 billion catholics, has landed in ireland, on the first papal visit to the country for nearly a0 years. more than a million people gathered in dublin in 1979