John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I take the opportunity to join Senators who have expressed their views on the death of Pope John Paul II. As the House was not sitting last week, I took the opportunity to travel to Rome on Thursday and Friday to attend the funeral. As someone who, like thousands in Ireland and elsewhere bears the Pope's name, I felt it was fitting to follow the very Irish tradition of attending a funeral. I was struck by the number of Irish people I met in Rome and could hardly get over the fact that most of those in St. Peter's Basilica when I went to view the remains were young. They were around my own age give or take a few years. It was a remarkable tribute to the man that he appealed so greatly to young people.

When I entered the St. Peter's Basilica on Thursday at approximately 8 p.m., the majority of those in attendance were Polish. The Poles have a particular feeling of loss which is shared in Ireland by those who are Catholic and those who are not. Attending a political meeting in Carlow a number of weeks before he died, it did not strike me as unusual to hear a party member propose that delegates remember the Pope in their prayers until I learned he was the son of a local Church of Ireland rector. The Pope had a tremendous impact on people of other faiths, whether Christian or otherwise. I did not realise the depth of feeling towards him in Judaism and among members of the Islamic community.

Pope John Paul II was the only occupant of the papacy that I have known. Many thousands of people in this country and throughout the world have never known anybody else in this role. One of his greatest attributes was his steadfastness and the fact that he was the one constant in terms of world leadership. We have had five or six American presidents, five or six taoisigh and five or six British prime ministers in that 27 year period yet John Paul II was constantly there. He was a figure that was instantly recognisable throughout the world.

I read the commemorative issue of Time magazine in Gatwick Airport on my way to Rome. The Pope appeared on the cover of that magazine 16 times in 27 years. That was a remarkable achievement for a man who was a spiritual leader. However, he was much more than that; he was also a political leader.

Other Senators have commented on his significant role in the ultimate destruction of communism in eastern Europe. It may have come about in the end but it would not have happened when it did were it not for his influence.

I will remember a number of images and stories of Pope John Paul II. When I got into a taxi in Rome on Thursday evening the taxi driver relayed one story in broken English. About seven or eight hours before the Pope died he summoned the man who had been his photographer for the 27 years he had spent in the Vatican. This man was very upset, as anybody would be in that situation, but the Pope, as the press releases stated, was very serene and told him not to be upset as he was ready and it should be an occasion of joy. That was one thing that struck me in my time in Rome; it was an occasion of joy. I do not think it ever happened before that a homily at a Pope's funeral was continuously interrupted by rounds of applause. It was a fitting tribute to John Paul II.

As I already said, he was probably the most instantly recognisable face in the world, especially in recent years. I will always remember that his first act in every country he visited, which became difficult in later years, was to kneel down and kiss the ground. He became famous for that gesture. I also remember the images of him on the balcony in the last few days before his death when he could not speak. He gave the sign of the cross in an almost frantic manner to the people congregated there.

An image which will particularly stick with me was one which took place on the day of the funeral. It was a very windy day and the pages of a bible which had been placed on his coffin fanned out in the breeze. It was a moment when the hair stood on the back of my neck.

The Pope is a great loss and I wish whoever will take up the baton the very best. John Paul II was the right man in the right place at the right time. I know for sure that he rests in peace.