Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I was one of 5,000 altar servers. I remember vividly that great occasion when I was ten years old and the great pomp which surrounded the visit of Pope John Paul II to Ireland in September 1979. In many ways, his visit was supposed to re-evangelise the Roman Catholic Church in this country and it was in many respects the high point of an era. What followed was a very difficult and turbulent period for the church. Many would argue that it was a better and more honest period, when its problems and its authoritarianism had to be confronted, and a much more honest debate occurred. That debate has been good for the Roman Catholic Church and for the country in general.

I agree with the Leader on the role of public service broadcasters. I was very struck by the extent of the coverage on RTE in particular. I was struck by its sensitivity and reverence during the whole week which allowed so many older people to see the ceremonies in Rome and be part of the grief.

In a sense there is international grief following the death of Pope John Paul II because he was Pope for 26 years. He travelled to some 140 countries and was Pope during the explosion of a media age. In many respects it was that internationalisation of the church that allowed him to be such a striking force for so many people of faith and non-faith throughout the world that everyone was struck by his death and the circumstances of the past week.

Arising from the historical problems that have confronted Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, if there is a country in the world that needs ecumenism and a much stronger inter-faith dialogue, it is ours. I watched the mass in the Pro-Cathedral at home as I could not be there. I was struck by the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Archbishop Neill, when he spoke at the end of mass of his sense of loss following the death of Pope John Paul II. His was a personal and real account that clearly showed the respect he had for the dead pontiff. I was struck by the spontaneous applause following his comments on behalf of Church of Ireland members throughout the country, particularly Dublin where the mass took place. I wonder if that would have happened 15 or 20 years ago.

Pope John Paul II's great legacy was his ecumenism. I think of the time he went to Israel and apologised to the Jewish faith for the way in which the Roman Catholic Church had conducted itself in the course of the Second World War. In his last testimony he recalled the strong relationship he had with the Chief Rabbi in Rome. He also reached out to the Orthodox Church in Greece and there has been some healing of the wounds between the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. I think of the time Pope John Paul II went to Canterbury when Archbishop Robert Runcie was archbishop. Archbishop Runcie said at the time "Holy Father, we welcome you". As a person from a background of a Protestant father and a Roman Catholic mother, this was an abiding memory for me growing up. Pope John Paul II's legacy in the area of ecumenism is very strong.

It was very important that he was a Polish Pope. The curse of central and eastern Europe is anti-semitism, as can be seen vividly from the Holocaust and the Second World War. There has been a significant anti-semitism problem in Poland. It is significant that this Polish Pope reached out in a sensitive and honest way to those of the Jewish faith. He was also the first Pope to visit a mosque. He will be remembered for this inter-church dialogue.

There is great satisfaction for many old and young Roman Catholics who watched the events of the past week here at the way in which this country and the world remembered the life, times and work of Pope John Paul II because many of them had felt that the church had been badly let down internally and externally and that their faith was not recognised because of the new all-encompassing consumerism of our society. There is a great sense of encouragement for many Catholics from the response of others to these events. We must all be encouraged by that and learn from the example of Pope John Paul II. We must hope that his great vocation can be upheld in the memory of all people of faith and no faith throughout the world.