here at st patrick's hall in soon here at st patrick's hall in dublin castle. we saw an image of mary mcaleese, the former president of ireland, among the invited guests. i saw bertie ahern as well, the former irish prime minister and taoiseach. we have seen schoolchildren in the audience. you have government members, representatives from political parties including from northern ireland. we saw senator george mitchell, instrumental in bringing together the peace process in northern ireland. we have meps, members of the judiciary, the civil service, the diplomatic corps and representatives from different faiths, a broad range of faiths across the island of ireland. karen bradley is also there. in the past,

the guest list wouldn't have extended much beyond the formal official guests one would expect at an occasion like this. we are told this audience is different and reflects a wider modern irish society. a particular interest of pope francis. included in the list are families from around ireland. people with disabilities, the lgbt community. travelling community. those who are marginally, marginalised, in society. as well as representatives and organisations who care for those individuals. representatives and organisations who care for those individualsm must be said there are at least two priests in this city who epitomise christianity. brother kevin crowley who runs a centre that the pope will

be visiting who feeds 500 people per day. there are many homeless people finding themselves on the streets needing to be cared for and some i i’u ns needing to be cared for and some i runs a trust that provides housing for homeless young people. they are what the church should really be about. everyone gets to their feet. as pope francis and the irish prime minister, bt sharks, we —— the taoiseach, leo varadkar. as we wait for the speech to begin. a standing

ovation for pope francis alongside ireland's gay prime minister. one who has spoken of opening a new chapter with the relationship between the irish state and the catholic church. please be seated. an introduction for the taoiseach, leo varadkar, who will be speaking first, and then the pope will speak in italian and we will bring you a translation. holy father, and a half of the irish people, i want to greet

you using one of the oldest blessings that we used to welcome a special guest. 100,000 welcomes and given the hundreds of thousands of people who will greet you, i can think of none more appropriate, cead mile failte. we are delighted to welcome you back. 1980 was a year after the visit of popejohn paul 1980 was a year after the visit of pope john paul ii 1980 was a year after the visit of popejohn paul ii and we are so grateful that his prayers for peace on our island where eventually a nswered on our island where eventually answered through the good friday agreement, a piece we promise to protect and nurture. today, i am privileged to welcome here today

representatives of all of the communities in northern ireland and from britain and together we are guided by your works, make bridges not walls because wall's fall. we are georgia today by people from all walks of life in ireland, members of government and parliament, front—line public servants, prisoners, those born here, those have chosen to come here. men and women, young and old, children, catholics, members of other faiths and members of no faith. it is our duty to nurture this planet. and look after its people. your holiness, we thank you for your care for the earth. emphasising the urgent need to tackle climate change and reminding us of our responsibilities. we thank you for the empathy that you have shown to

the empathy that you have shown to the poor, to migrants and refugees. although you are here principally for a pastoral visit in the form of the world meeting of families in dublin we are grateful you have found time to do some other things, to attend the state event in dublin castle, to visit with our president, to say mass in the phoenix park and taking time to visit the shrine. we hope during a future visit it may be possible for you to travel to northern ireland as well. he speaks irish. holy father, the christian faith

inspired many of the people, catholic protestant and centre who led our struggle for freedom and independence and for this reason the 1916 proclamation of independence and our constitution invoke god the almighty and the holy trinity in their opening lines. in more recent yea rs, their opening lines. in more recent years, christian democracy and christian ideas also helped to inform and guide the founders of the european union. inspiring a continent to rescue war in favour of ever closer cooperation. —— to reject war. the catholic church i believe has led us to understand we

are citizens of a wider world and pa rt are citizens of a wider world and part of a global universal family. our brave in the missionary priests and nuns provide an education to those around the world's, and nuns provide an education to those around the worlds, to protect the sick and the most vulnerable. peacekeepers and international development workers fall in that proud tradition, in their work for charities. people of profound christian faith providing education to our children when government did not. in first in the open air next to hedgerows and later in schools and colleges and educational institutions which they built. they fired at our oldest hospitals, cared for the sick, staff to them and provided welfare for so many of our people and we think of the many wonderful organisation to continue that work today. so it is easy and

perhaps sometimes convenient for us to forget that the irish state founded in 1922 did not set up a department of health, our department of social welfare, until 1947, department of health, our department of socialwelfare, until19li7, more than 25 years after independence. today, these are our two largest and best funded government departments, accounting for half of our government spending between them, providing health care, education and wealth is considered a core function 110w wealth is considered a core function now of what our state does. when our it was founded it was not. the catholic church and other churches fill that gap to the benefit of many generations of people. we remain profoundly grateful for that contribution down the centuries. even today as we struggle with a housing shortage and homelessness, catholic organisations of people inspired by their catholic faith

fill a gap inspired by their catholic faith filla gap in inspired by their catholic faith fill a gap in providing some of those services. for example through organisations like cross care. holy father, during your papacy, we have witnessed your compassion for people around the edge of our society, for people who have not shared in our relative prosperity and people and families who have slipped through the net. your visit to the day centre today reminds us of the enormous work we have to do to make sure the promise of the new testa m e nt sure the promise of the new testament is the fellow, always protect, trust, hope and persevere and neverfail. protect, trust, hope and persevere and never fail. at protect, trust, hope and persevere and neverfail. at times in the past we have failed. there are dark aspects of the catholic church's history as one of your bishops recently said. we think of the words of the psalm that tell us children

area of the psalm that tell us children are a heritage of the lord. we are reminded of the failure is of wider society and the church and they have left a legacy of pain and suffering, a broken heritage. this is a shared history of sorrow and shame. in place of just history of sorrow and shame. in place ofjust christian charity, far too often there was judgment, severity and cruelty, in particular towards women and children and those on the margins. bachelor lodges, mother baby homes, schools, clerical child abuse our stains on our state, society and the church. cries for help that went unheard. there is

much to be done to bring about justice and truth because these wounds are still open. —— magdalene laundries. we ask, holy father, you use your office and influence to make sure this is done in ireland in the world we have listened in recent weeks to the heartbreaking stories in pennsylvania, the unspeakable crimes, perpetration by people within the church and obscurity to protect the institution. it is a story that was all too tragically familiar to those of us here in ireland. as you have said, there can only be zero tolerance for those who abuse children or facilitate that abuse. we must now ensure that from words or actions. above all, holy father, we ask you listen to the victims and survivors and we know you will do that. and that you will bring to it the attributes of compassion and humility and honesty

that we all here feel that you embody as pontiff. your holiness, the ireland of the 21st—century is a very different place today than the one we had in the past. as you can see from the people here in front of you, it is increasingly diverse. one in six of us were not born here and there are more and more people who are dearto there are more and more people who are dear to other faiths or who are co mforta ble are dear to other faiths or who are comfortable in declaring that they subscribe to no organised religion at all. in our parliament and by referendum we voted to modernise our laws. understanding marriages do not a lwa ys laws. understanding marriages do not always work, that women should make their own decisions and that families come in many different, wonderfulforms, including those headed by a grandparent, a lone pa rents headed by a grandparent, a lone parents or headed by a grandparent, a lone parents 01’ same—sex headed by a grandparent, a lone parents or same—sex partners, or pa rents parents or same—sex partners, or parents who have divorced and remarried. your holiness, i believe the time has come for us to build a

new relationship, a more mature relationship, between church and state in ireland and for the 21st—century. it is my fervent hope your visit marked the opening of a new chapter in the relationship between ireland and the catholic church. building on how intertwined history and learning from our shared mystics and responsibilities, it can be one in which religion is perhaps not at the centre of our society but continues to have a very important place. one of greater diversity and choice when it come to the patronage of our schools and one were publicly—funded hospitals are imbued with a civic and scientific ethos. i looked is a very different country thanit looked is a very different country than it was 39 years ago when we last welcomed a pope to these shores. make no mistake, modern ireland is still very much a country of faith in spirit and values.

family, community, enterprise, social justice, family, community, enterprise, socialjustice, diversity, openness to the world, equality before the law, and individual liberty. these values describe the republican which we aspire to build. —— the republic. your holiness, welcome to ireland, we thank you so much for your visit and ask for your prayers. applause i now invite his holiness pope francis to speak. translation: he speaks italian.

just waiting for our translation to begin. as we listen to this crucial speech from pope francis, his first address on this visit to ireland. very interesting to hear the prime ministers saying to pope francis, above all, listen to the victims of abuse, we must now ensure from words flow actions. that's crucial part of the speech from leo varadkar. we are waiting to hear is the response to

that appeal from leo varadkar. we know pope francis will meet victims, survivors of abuse later today. we will talk in advance about that meeting. once it is over, the church saying that it is up to the victims of abuse whether they decide to speak afterwards about that conversation. he speaks italian. ican

i can tell you what the pope has been saying so far is that he is grateful for the invitation to address the people gathered here at dublin castle representing the civil, industrial and religious life. he recognises the friendly welcome he has been given in ireland and a delegation from northern ireland. he reflects on the official reason for his visit to take part in the world meeting of families, and event that happens every three years to reflect on and celebrate the role of the family in the catholic church. he talks about the duty of every generation to cherish and protect ethical and spiritual values. in the face of difficulties faced by families in today's rapidly evolving society. he calls families the glue of society, their welfare

cannot be taken for granted but must be promoted and protected by every possible means. it is within the family each of us took his or her first steps in life. we are expecting the pope shortly in the speech to reflect on the peace process in northern ireland that led to the signing of the good friday agreement. to hope for its continued survival that that process will go from strength to strength. and then of course to talk about the victims of course to talk about the victims of abuse by priests, the victims of cover—ups of that abuse. the young women, typically unmarried mothers, who were sent to work in the

magdalene laundries. for those who we re magdalene laundries. for those who were sent to mother and baby homes, unmarried women who were thought not fit to be part of society at that time. and the lack of care and compassion for those women and their children, some of those babies given away and boot in forced adoptions. some of those infants burried in an marked graves. the commission are investigating that particular scandal, due to report next year. translation: it caused untold pain in both sides. we can give thanks for the two decades of peace that followed this historic agreement. i

am expressing firm hope that the peace process will overcome every remaining obstacle. and help give birth to a future of harmony, reconciliation and mutual trust. the gospel reminds us that true peace is ultimately god's gift. it flows from a healed and reconciled heart and embraces the entire world. yet it also requires constant conversion on our part as the spiritual resources needed to build a society of authentic solidarity, justice and service of the common good. without that spiritual foundation, our ideal ofa that spiritual foundation, our ideal of a global family of nations risks becoming no more than another empty

platitudes. can we say that the... increasing indifference to the poorer and the most defenceless member of our human family, including the on—board, deprived of life —— the un—born. the most disturbing challenges to our conscious these days is a massive crisis that will not go away. the solution calls for wisdom, vision and the humanitarian concern going far beyond shorter political decisions. i am very conscious of the circumstances of our most

vulnerable brothers and sisters. i think especially of those women who in the past in difficult situations, both women and children, and those left orphans considering the reality of the most vulnerable i cannot fill to acknowledge the grave scandal caused in ireland i the abuse of young people by members of the church. who had been charged with the responsibility for their protection and education. the failure of the ecclesiastical authorities but like i remember the words are said to me by the minister, for youth. i thank him

publicly. the ecclesiastical authorities, bishops, priests and others who did not address these crimes. has given rise to rh and remains a source of pain and shame for the catholic community. —— given rise to outrage. i myself share those sentiments. my predecessor pope benedict spared no words in recognising both the gravity of the situation and into and demanding just an effective measures be taken in response to this betrayal of trust. the intervention continues to serve as an incentive of the efforts of the church's leadership to remedy past mistakes, to adopt stringent laws meant to ensure that these will

not happen again. in a letter, i repeated this engagement. a greater engagement to eliminate this plague from the church. with huge cast, both moral and huge suffering, the child is in fact a precious gift of god. to be cherished, encouraged to develop and guided to spiritual maturity and flourishing. the church in ireland past and present displayed a role in promoting the welfare of children that cannot be obscured. it is my hope that the gravity of the abuse scandals which have cast a light on the feelings of many and will serve to emphasise the

importance of the protection of minors. in this regard, all of us are aware of how urgent it is to provide our young people with wise guidance and sound values. on the journey to maturity. dearfriends, almost 90 years ago, the holy see was one of the first international institutions to recognise the irish free state. the initiative signalled the beginning of many years of dynamic operation and harmony. more recently, intensive endeavour and goodwill on both sides have contributed significantly to a

promising renewal of those friendly relations for the mutual benefit of all. the threat of that history —— the threats of that history go back to over a millennium and a half ago when the christian message preached by saint patrick found a home and ireland and became an integral part of irish life and culture. many saints and scholars were inspired to leave these shores and bring their new—found faith to land. to this day, the names of columba, brendan, gillian and so many others are revered throughout europe and beyond. —— cillian. a splendid page

was written in irish and universal history. in the past the men and women and now strive to enrich the life of the nation with a wisdom born in theirfaith. even in ireland's darkest hour, they found the faith... it is my prayer that ireland, in listening to contemporary politics and social discussions, will not be

forgetful of the powerful christian message that has sustained it in the past and continue to do so in the future. these thoughts i invoke upon you and all of the beloved irish people. god's blessing ofjoy and peace, thank you. applause. studio: that was pope francis, during his speech in dublin, a long