Stormont Assembly members pay tribute to Pope Francis

By Alan Rodgers

a.rodgers@ulsterherald.com

TRIBUTES have been paid by Stormont Assembly members to the work of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis died on April 21 at the age of 88 following a 12 year papacy.

First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, led MLAs in acknowledging the praising the work of the Pontiff. Others who contributed included the West Tyrone Sinn Fein MLA, Maoliosa McHugh, and the Mid-Ulster SDLP MLA,Patsy McGlone.

In her comments, Ms O’Neill from Clonoe, who attended the funeral in St Peter’s Square on Saturday, extended her sympathies to the family of Pope Francis, the people of his homeland in Argentina and to all Catholics, including the Archbishop Eamon Martin, Primate of All-Ireland.

“Pope Francis was a man of deep faith, profound humility and immense courage. He led the Catholic Church through a period of great change, challenge and renewal and did so with great integrity and a powerful depth of compassion for all people, particularly the poor and marginalised,” she said.

“He was a Pope of Firsts, but they were not symbolic alone. They reflected his vision for a Church that should walk alongside those on the margins and speak with honesty and courage to the challenges of our time.

“He once described himself as a man from the pheriphery and in many ways that is how he led.He was the voice of the voiceless in a world increasingly defined by the inequality, division and conflict. He spoke in defence of the downtrodden and the misplaced.”

West Tyrone MLA,Maoliosa McHugh, said he had been with his family at the Papal Mass in the Phoenix Park in Dublin celebrated by the Pope as part of the World Meeting of Families in 2018.

“I heard the words of encouragement when he asked us not to be indifferent to the less fortunate,something which he exemplified throughout his tenure as pope, even to the day of his funeral when he ensured a special place was reserved for the marginalised and the homeless.

“We won’t see his likes again, but we do hope that whoever is appointed as the next pope will follow in the same direction that Pope Francis has led his church.

“On Easter Sunday morning I watched the message from Pope Francis. He blessed the thousands in St Peter’s Square and the tens of thousands watching worldwide on television. He was taken through the crowds waving and blessing. He was a Pope of the People to his very last breath.”

Mid-Ulster MLA, Patsy McGlone, said Ireland bowed its head not only in mourning but also in deep gratitude for his life of service.

“He was a man of towering faith, but his greatness lay not in power but in the tireless labour of love in the defence of the dignity of every soul.

“He spoke to a world aching for truth and stood steady in the storm of change. He was a voice for the unborn, the poor,the forgotten.In lands torn by violence and greed, he became a pilgrim of peace and indeed I think of Gaza and Ukraine.”