David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I salute Pope Francis I, who is emerging as one of the great figures of the 21st century.

I say that because on his first journey outside Rome he recognised the plight of the people in desperation from north Africa trying to make it to "Fortress Europe". It was a dangerous position for a Pope to take. He will be opposed by all the right-wing governments in northern Europe, but I found it very moving that he celebrated mass on one of those pathetic little boats and spoke up for those marginalised people. However, I am a little worried about the representative here because he is in a difficult position and I hope this Pope will be able to sort it out. I refer to the Papal Nuncio, Monsignor Brown, who despite the sound of the name is of German, not Irish extraction, which might explain some of the rigidity. I do not think he distinguished himself in Dundalk. He sailed very close to the wind when he intervened on the abortion issue. I would like to ask the Leader whether he could request information for me from the Department of Foreign Affairs. Does the Papal Nuncio have a unique position among ambassadors to this country so that he alone is permitted to intervene in the domestic affairs of the country to whom he is accredited? No other ambassador would presume to do so. He does not even provide the historical context of his own church, because we know now, thanks to an excellent piece of historical research by Patsy McGarry in The Irish Times, that the position of the Roman Catholic Church up until 1869 - in other words for nearly 2,000 years - was that abortion was completely permissible under canon law up to the 166th day which is when the church had calculated that ensoulment took place and the child was “quickened” to use the terminology. The recent authoritarian restrictions on every form of abortion, even in life saving circumstances, in cases of fatal foetal abnormality or as the result of incest or rape are very new and must be challenged.

I wish to salute one of our judges in the High Court who peremptorily dismissed the impertinent request from the United States of America, with no evidence whatever, that it should extradite Mr. Snowden. People should really appreciate what the United States is doing and the alarming fact that there is no difference between Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama except for the fact that he is black, he speaks well and he looks nice. Apart from that, he is exactly the same. He has increased tenfold the number of drone attacks, suspended habeas corpusand ridden roughshod over international law, and I would say again-----