The circumstances in which we are celebrating the Silver Jubilee of the Papal Visit 
of 1979 are quite extraordinary, even miraculous, some would say.  It was for the 
centenary of the Apparitions in Knock that the Pope was invited to come to Ireland, 
and the visit took place on September 29th, 30th and October 1st, 1979.  The Pope’s 
schedule was intense: he visited Drogheda; he celebrated Mass to over a million 
people in the Phoenix Park; he visited the National Seminary in Maynooth; he 
travelled onto Clonmcanois, then Galway, then Knock - which he rightly described 
as "the goal" of his journey - and finally Limerick. .  After his Irish visit in 
1979, Pope John Paul travelled onto to the USA and he also addressed the UN in 
New York.  However, on his return to Rome it was Clonmacnois that formed the 
theme of the Pope’s first public audience speech which he delivered in St Peter’s 
Square in Rome on October 17th, 1979.  Referring to Clonmacnois the Pope said, 
“it is difficult for a pilgrim to arrive at those places without those traces 
of the apparently dead past revealing to him a permanent and everlasting dimension 
of life … I will never forget that place.”

We had the great privilege of having the Pope in our midst while he was at the 
beginning of his ministry and the height of his powers.  He was 59 years old 
and looked much less.  He spoke English, something that few of his predecessors 
were prepared for, in least in public.  He even said a few words in Irish as well.  
He could communicate with us not just in words but in those gestures and smiles 
which somehow closed the gap between pope and people.  The ordinary Catholic 
felt that we had someone in Rome more like a much loved Parish Priest than a 
Pope.  A vibrant and charismatic man, Pope John Paul was indeed like the breath 
of the Spirit.  If the Pope John Paul returns to Ireland in 2005, we will 
welcome an elderly and frail man.  We should be happy to know that this man 
who brought us excitement and pride in the faith in 1979 finds his heart drawn 
back to us again.  That alone should boost our spirits.  In his old age he is 
the "Suffering Servant", Christ like as never before. 

When people write about the changes in our country since the Papal Visit, 
they are generally talking of another kind of change.  Some of the positive 
things that made us feel good about ourselves as Catholics in 1979 have been 
caught in the hurricane of change that has hit society and Church.  Materially 
Ireland is evidently in a healthy state and yet there are many signs that 
we are in fact less happy for that. You could say that a lot of spiritual 
power lines are down, some lights not functioning.  But the Good News still 
brings hope and the lives of many are still an inspiration, a living Gospel.

One of the places the Pope visited that has not changed is Clonmacnois. The 
ruins that he saw are still as they were and will remain so.  Their message 
is even more significant now.  Ironically it is these buildings which were 
battered and broken down in the turbulent history of Clonmacnois that speak 
of indestructibility.  What is now new and gleaming is symbolic of transience. 

The Irish Bishops’ Conference has undertaken a number of initiatives to 
commemorate the visit of the Pope to Ireland, with Clonmacnois the focal
point on September 19th.  

While this site made a special impression on the Holy Father, it is also 
important in its own right.  When Saint Ciarán landed there in January 545, 
he picked the site for his monastery carefully where the Esker Riada and the 
Shannon meet, these being the two main thoroughfares of the 6th century Ireland.  
He would develop a monastery second only to Armagh in importance and ahead of 
Armagh in literary and artistic achievement.  In Clonmacnois on the Cross of 
the Scriptures are carved two figures apparently driving a stake into the 
ground.  Some have said it represents Ciarán and  King Diarmuit, co-founding 
the monastery in 545.  Some say it is more likely Abbot Colman and King Flann 
laying the foundation stone for what was the largest church in Ireland around 
the year 900.  Whichever choice you make, that panel speaks of foundation 
of more than monastery or church.  It speaks of the grounding of the faith.
 
The homilies and addresses given by Pope John Paul in Ireland were intended 
by him to reinforce our faith and ground it for modern times. His words 
were highly relevant and direct.  In the Phoenix Park he quoted words 
spoken by Augustine Birrell who was Secretary for Ireland early in the 
last century.  He had said, “for the Irish it is the Mass that matters.”  
We heard those words with pride on that September day 25 years ago.  
In Drogheda he said, “I beg of you on bended knees,” as he pleaded with 
those engaged in violence to bring it to an end.   In his last homily 
in Ireland, delivered in Limerick the pope spoke words which sound ever 
more prophetic.   He told us, “Ireland will have to choose.”  Faith 
could not be taken for granted.  He saw that certain values, especially 
family values, would be tested in the new Ireland.   

The Silver Jubilee celebration to be held in Clonmacnois recommits us 
to what is permanent and lasting.  Remember that panel on the High Cross 
of the Scriptures in Clonmacnois: a king and a monk, the State and the 
Church, saying 'yes' to a shared vision.  “Whole generations of Europe 
owe to them the light of the Gospel and the structural framework of 
their culture,” the Pope said of the ancient ruins of Clonmacnois.  
We should be proud to remember this in 2004.    

Dr Colm O'Reilly is Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois and is Chairman 
of the Bishops’ Commission for the Missions.