A million people at Mass in the Phoenix Park; special trains laid on
to transport the faithful; serried ranks of clergy filing before the
altar; foreign princes of the church attending pomp-laden receptions;
every arm of the State deployed in service of the occasion.
The Pope's visit in 1978?
Close.
The event described above was in fact the Eucharistic Congress held in 1932.
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has just returned from Rome, where he had discussions about the 50th Eucharistic Congress, to be held in Dublin in 2012.
His
mission brought to mind the 1932 event, which was, in the words of one
commentator, "one of the most remarkable public events to have taken
place in Ireland in the 20th century".
"To many of those who participated in the event," according to historians John Paul McCarthy and Tomás O'Riordan, "it remained a touchstone in their entire lives."
The Congress -- a gathering to celebrate the Holy Eucharist -- took place during the early months of the de Valera Government.
De
Valera was keen to use the occasion of the Congress to promote the
young State, and to show the world that we could host an event of this
size.
For Dev, who had been ex-communicated by the Catholic
Church for his Republican activities, it was an opportunity to improve
relations with the clergy and for Fianna Fáil "to establish their
impeccable Catholic credentials", says historian Diarmaid Ferriter.
Accordingly,
every arm of the State was pressed into service. There was even a
special act of parliament enacted to facilitate arrangements: the
Eucharistic Congress (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1932.
For
those few days in June (21-26), Ireland was at the centre of the
Catholic world, and thousands of clergy descended on Dublin to attend.
Public
buildings were illuminated, altars, grottoes and crosses were erected,
and every road, street and square was decorated with fresh flowers.
The
English Catholic writer GK Chesterton remarked on the efforts of the
people living in the Dublin tenements to make their part of the city
look a little less drab for the occasion.
The world's largest PA
system was installed, and a high-powered radio transmission mast was
built at Athlone to broadcast coverage both of the event and of the
broadcast by the Pope to the Irish people made from the Vatican.
Large
camps to accommodate visitors from outside Dublin were set up at Cabra
and Artane, and emergency billets were provided in town halls, libraries
and schools all over the city.
"It was a huge logistical
exercise," says Prof Ferriter. "There were something like 130 special
trains coming into Dublin for the event.
"It's sometimes forgotten
that there was a very strong Northern element to it. Over 100,000
Catholics from the North attended, and many were attacked on their way
south," he adds.
De Valera spoke at length at many of the events,
seeking to reassure the church that his party's policies had "translated
the sweetness of Christianity into social progress".
Proceedings
began with the arrival of the papal legate, Cardinal Lorenzo Lauri, by
boat at Dun Laoghaire. He was met by a massive crowd. A fly-past by the
Air Corps flying in crucifix formation also marked the occasion.
There is an air, looking back at the contemporary accounts, of a nation in the throes of a devotional fever.
Crowds gathered everywhere, and churchmen such as Archbishop Byrne of Dublin, Cardinal MacRory of Armagh, Cardinal Hayes of New York and Monsignor Heylen, Bishop of Namur, were cheered much as present-day crowds cheer X Factor celebrities.
The Congress culminated in a vast Mass in the Phoenix Park, which drew a crowd estimated at a million.
A high point came when John McCormack, a Papal Count since 1928, sang 'Panis Angelicus'.
This
moment "added to the sense of pride that so many people derived from
the event. It was an unforgettable moment for all present", according to
historian Rory O'Dwyer.
The Eucharistic Congress of 2012 will, of
course, take place in an Ireland immensely different from the country
Cardinal Lauri visited in 1932.
Then, there was an air of supreme
confidence among the Catholic hierarchy; now, the church has been
undermined by child-abuse scandals and accusations of a cover-up.
Then,
the utterances of the clergy were reported uncritically by a
subservient press; today, pronouncements, pastoral letters and
encyclicals are more rigorously examined.
"I still think there
will be a significant mobilisation for the 2012 event," says Prof
Ferriter.
"People are able to separate out the different aspects of
their Catholic identity. There will still be a sense of the authorities
wanting to prove that they can still organise something like this."
In
1932, the gates of the Phoenix Park were removed to facilitate the
procession into the city.
This week, one correspondent asked that the
organisers of the 2012 event put them back.
SIC: II/IE