PREPARATIONS were under way for an historic visit by Pope John Paul II to Northern Ireland in 2005, new documents reveal.
Diplomatic correspondence from
Foreign Office files reveals that the Vatican “hoped” that the late
pontiff could visit both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
during the year in which he died.
A series of documents released
under the Freedom of Information Act show that in 2004 Northern Ireland
was on a potential list of countries for the then 83-year-old pope to
visit the following year,
Heavily censored snippets of documents
from 2004 to 2007 show that there was recurring diplomatic speculation
about the potential for a pope to, in the words of one cable, “complete”
the 1979 papal visit to the Republic of Ireland by also visiting
Armagh.
A cable sent from the British Embassy in the Vatican to
the Foreign Office said that the pontiff was then in failing health,
that he no longer walked, was short of breath and “struggles to
articulate”.
However, it added: “His travel is short haul...next
year Cologne in August for the World Youth Conference is definite,
health permitting. Ireland (including Northern Ireland), Istanbul and
Poland are hoped for, but less certain.”
Another cable from the
British Embassy in the Vatican in 2006 said that Pope Benedict XVI had
been invited to the UK by the Catholic bishops but added: “One concern
for the Vatican will be the Irish question. There is an outstanding
invitation to the pope from the Irish Catholic Bishops, including a
visit to Armagh in Northern Ireland.”
However, later that same
year, another cable from the British Embassy in the Vatican said that a
papal visit to the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland “remains
highly unlikely... before 2008 if at all”.
A 2004 cable from the
Foreign Office to the British Embassy in the Vatican noted that the
possibility of a UK visit by the pope had been trailed in the UK press.
“The
coverage has been generally positive and the leaders of most churches,
with the notable exception of the Free Presbyterians, in Northern
Ireland, have expressed a degree of support for the visit.”
However,
a May 2007 cable from the British Embassy in the Vatican noted that
some in the Vatican believed it had detected a softening of the then
Free Presbyterian moderator and Stormont first minister to a papal
visit.
The cable, which said that the pope had praised the recent
return of devolved government in the province, following agreement
between the DUP and Sinn Fein, said: “Separately, some [REDACTED] have
noticed comments given by Dr Paisley in an interview with the Irish
Times on Saturday, 5 May. I have not seen the interview, but the reports
here suggest that Dr Paisley in commenting on his new role said that
there would be some things he would not do, for example, attend a papal
mass should the pope visit Northern Ireland.
“Some observers here
said that though cast in the negative; it did show a significant shift
in accepting that a papal visit to Northern Ireland might happen.”
However,
the author may not have been entirely correct in his assumption as a
visit by Pope Benedict to the UK last year was met with a Free
Presbyterian protest led by Dr Paisley.