Scottish Catholic Observer

Around 40 pilgrims from Motherwell Diocese are heading out to Dublin after more than a year of preparation.

30 pilgrims from St Bride’s Church in East Kilbride will pick up parishioners from Hamilton, Motherwell and Uddingston, before journeying on to Ireland.

Deacon John McGarry said he was hoping to be part of a ‘pious’ group praying alongside people from across the world. Organisational headaches aside, including sorting through an endless list of banned items issued by the global event’s organisers—‘no air horns, deckchairs or drones’—Deacon McGarry is looking forward to hearing from the Holy Father.

“I think the Pope’s message will be one of joy and one of love and being open to the world around us,” he said.

The St Bride’s group will be staying outside Dublin in Bray, and have been assisted in organising the trip by The Holy Redeemer Church in the town.

St Bride’s parishioner Marion Greenan helped arrange the pilgrimage. Having been present for St Pope John Paul II’s visit to Scotland, and sung in the Motherwell Diocesan Choir during Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s visit in 2010, she is looking forward to seeing a third pope.

“It’s been a long wait, and we’ve been furiously putting together the paperwork, but we are looking forward to it,” she said. “Let’s hope and pray that everything goes well.”

The World Meeting opened on Tuesday, with Catholic cathedrals ringing bells in the evening, and the Pope will be in Ireland from August 25-26.

This marks the first World Meeting of Families held in Ireland, which takes place once every three years.

In a video released ahead of his visit, the Holy Father spoke his excitement at visiting Ireland, and of his hope that it would ‘further the growth of unity and reconciliation’ between all Christians.

“Althougth the specific reason for my visit to Ireland is the World Meeting of Families, I would like to include all the members of the Irish family,” he said. “In a particular way, I pray that it may further the growth of unity and reconciliation among all Christ’s followers, as a sign of that lasting peace which is God’s dream for our whole human family.”

It is the second time Pope Francis has been to Ireland, having visited the Jesuit community at Dublin’s Milltown Park in 1980, while as Fr Jorge Bergoglio.