Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

I move:

That, as a tribute of respect to the memory of His Holiness Pope John Paul II, Seanad Éireann will send an expression of its profound sadness and sympathy on the death of the Holy Father to His Eminence, Cardinal Ratzinger, Dean of the College of Cardinals.

I wish to thank you, a Chathaoirligh, and the staff of the Seanad Office for their guidance on how the House should go about dealing with this motion. We have operated on the basis of precedent.

After all that has been broadcast and written about the death of the Pope, it is difficult to find fresh words to say about the passing of the Holy Father, but I wish to convey the sympathy of the House in this regard. Of all the admirable traits of the late Pope John Paul II, it was a happy coincidence that even at a time of acceleration in the growth of communications, he was himself the great communicator. His accession to the papacy coincided with a growth in international communications and his ability to communicate on a global scale with so many people was one of his wonderful traits. His late Holiness was originally an actor by profession, a fact that appealed to so many people in the communications field. We have only to think of the day he landed in Ireland when he knelt to kiss the ground with his red cloak swirling around him. That gesture had a dramatic impact then and still does today when one reflects upon it in retrospect. It was a striking gesture and I am sure he thought of that himself. I am also sure nobody in the Vatican told him to kneel and kiss the ground. It was a wonderful gesture.

In addition, his humility was the trait of which we all stood in awe. Looking at the television last week, I was struck by what appeared to be the humble origins of many of the people in St. Peter's Square in Rome. They were very ordinary people, including the Polish with their flags, the Italians and others. Wherever they came from they were not dressed up in pomp and ceremony. We had that on the day of the funeral, which was right. After all, he was the pope who stopped a royal wedding, if only for a day. There was a wonderful display of emotion and affection by ordinary people who were genuinely saddened by the loss of a man they saw as their friend. People do not garner that kind of universal sympathy without evoking it through their own deeds.

As we all know, there were some matters concerning Pope John Paul II's papacy with which we did not all agree. However, that is not the point in commenting generally on his papacy which transcended all of that. He was the figurehead of the church and while there are many who will comment on various aspects of his papacy, he will be remembered for his humility and his determination to travel the world and meet people. He was also determined to get close to people, a fact that is supported by endless anecdotes. It would be wrong of me, however, to go into any of them in detail. There were endless stories of how he wished to express his views to people as well as listening to their views. He exuded great warmth. People have told me that when he entered a room it lit up almost immediately. I saw that myself at close quarters. He had clever eyes. I remember the first time I saw him, when he kissed the ground. When one approached him he had those very intelligent bright eyes which, sadly, illness dimmed and dulled as time went on. Of all the actions in his life, the most telling and stark is how he met his death, which he did with courage and bravery. That conveyed a lesson. It was also notable that the windows of his apartment were left open, with the light on, so that people could see he was still alive. When he passed away, the light was turned off and the windows were closed.

The Pope taught so many things. Young people adored him. His comment in Galway —"Young people of Ireland, I love you"— was a dramatic way of expressing why he came and what he wanted to do.

I pay tribute to the media, to RTE and the other stations, and to all the newspapers. We received on the spot, vivid accounts of what was happening and did not miss a beat. That was wonderful because once again it was global communication brought into our sitting-rooms or kitchens or wherever our televisions were. We were able to see, hear, listen and absorb. Friday morning's funeral was a wonderful spectacle. One did not need to be a highly religious person to be almost overcome by what was happening.