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WITH LESS THAN a week to go, final preparations are being made for the visit of Pope Francis I at the World Meeting of Families in Dublin.
It’s the first time a Pontiff will have visited Ireland in almost four decades, and hundreds of thousands are expected to turn out to witness the historic event.
To help everything run smoothly, the World Meeting of Families put out a number of calls for volunteers to do various jobs.
Katie Crosby of the World Meeting of Families told TheJournal.ie that volunteers for the event would work in one of 14 different areas.
“We have 7,000 general volunteers involved in various roles,” she said.
“And there is an additional 3,000 volunteers in the papal mass choir at the Phoenix Park and up to 3,000 involved in the distribution of Holy Communion.”
Volunteer categories include a meet and greet team for pilgrims arriving to Dublin for the event, a translation team for those who want to hear services in different languages, and a transportation team to help pilgrims get to different events.
A number of people will also provide medical care, while the largest team, including ushers and stewards, will ensure everything runs smoothly when events take place.
“We also sought volunteers to offer accommodation for overseas pilgrims in family homes in the Dublin area under the ’Host a Pilgrim/Family’ programme,” Crosby says.
Volunteers and staff are already working at the various sites hosting World Meeting of Families events.
Last week, a number of volunteers made up 44,000 bags at a warehouse in Dublin to be shipped to the RDS for the opening ceremony on 21 August.
The team also dealt with more than 3,000 vestments ordered especially for the occasion, as Crosby explains.
She said: “A number of wonderful volunteers, mostly mammies, used their expertise to make sure that the vestments were ironed and readied for various liturgies, including the closing mass [on August 26].”
Others have also baked cakes, while one person will also don a sheep outfit to act as the event’s mascot Éirinn.
Those still looking to lend a hand, however, will be left disappointed.
“We are no longer taking volunteer applications,” Crosby reveals. ”We are now in operational phase of the project.”
In other words, all that’s left to be done is to wait for the arrival of the Pope next Saturday.
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Congratulations to all involved, it is a wonderful opportunity.
Hmm, that’s what they said about unpaid internships.
@Phillip O’Brien: ya right great on you supporting a cult
@rowan hill: I have the right to my religion, yes.
You might need to check exactly what a “cult” is before using it in ad hominem attacks.
@Phillip O’Brien: Opportunity for what? To kowtow to a corrupt organisation and it’s mealy mouthed leader?
The irony of women doing laundry/ironing for this is beyond comprehension.
@Phillip O’Brien: you need to look up what ad hominem actually means.
@Dave O Keeffe: Apparently giving out about massively wealthy international organisations now qualifies as an “ad hominem” – what a world we live in.
@Dave O Keeffe: No I don’t, there was a statement made against me.
@Phillip O’Brien: cult (noun) – 1. a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object. Eh, yeah….
@Phillip O’Brien: no, the comment referred to you as a supporter of the church but referred to the church as a cult.
@Phillip O’Brien:
Yes you do have a right to your religion Phillip. It’s just a pity your chosen religion (The Catholic Church) is the most unchristian organisation on the planet.
@roderick: Need I say more – your comment is proof of what I’m saying.
@Dave O Keeffe: I’d suggest you read the thread again.
@James Joseph Superior Power: That’s certainly not been my experience.
@Phillip O’Brien: But it is the experience of so many who went through rape and abuse or imprisonment in a laundry where their babies were sold or those who didn’t make it in Tuam. You are entitled to your religion but let’s not sugar coat those other experiences
@Phillip O’Brien: Hi Phillip. I took the liberty of getting you a definition.
cult
kʌlt/
noun
a system of religious veneration and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object.
@David Quigley: Thank you. Your definition proves exactly that Roman Catholicism is not a cult.
Many people here are implying that RC is a cult which worships/adores/venerates Pope Francis which is clearly false and an uneducated view.
@Phillip O’Brien: Nah, more like a cult that worships/adores/venerates Jesus of Nazareth.
Unpaid laundry work has a familiar ring to it
Mascot is a sheep….. says it all !
@Hello DAVE!: the flock with the frock.
@Hello DAVE!: it’s all about blindly following….no questions asked, a sheep is the perfect moscot.
That’s why they refer to followers as the flock.
How do the 500,000 reconcile themselves with this? And wait till the Vatican shames and sorrows for the rest off the US, Ireland, the UK, Austrailia and then all the third world countries where these dark sick secrets are still hidden.
Can any of the faithful answer and remember, it’s not a once off….have a look at the 500000 of you in the Phoenix park. The crowd is huge. Please note it’s a safe bet that at least that number of children have suffered from the RCC the last 1000 years.
Please let me know.
@Paul Furey: at least that, worldwide in the last 200 years its likely in the millions that have been abused,
@Barry Somers: the earliest record of a paedophile priest dates from 400AD in the churches own writings. 1600 years of this.
This is like a referendum with thejournal carefully balancing the articles.
@Daveinson: Baa!
@Daveinson: would you rather they wrote articles defending child abuse? Millions abused worldwide, all covered up by the Vatican, what could you possibly put on the other side to balance that out?
@Dave O Keeffe: An opinion piece from an Archbishop saying “yeah but it wasn’t ALL the priests!!!” should do nicely for balance on this terribly nuanced issue…
@ihcalaM: it wouldn’t get past the Vatican because it would have to admit culpability.
@Dave O Keeffe: True. I forgot they were still in the ‘we’re really sorry about all that stuff and by the way we’re still shielding serial abusers’ phase.
@Dave O Keeffe: Is the Pope a Catholic??
@Peter Casey:
He might be Catholic but he is no Christian
Baptised a Catholic, but will not be part of a criminal organization. A religion that has always been a business. Granted the same could be said for all organised religions…. but the fallacy of the Catholic Church is beyond belief.
@Donal Desmond: Are You sure about that Sir? The Mother Church stopped Baptising human beings since well 1944 in english and 1777 in Latin. III. The Spirit of the Age http://ourladyisgod.com/
@Peadar117: I hope you stick around after the visit. You are great craic. Seriously, the sky fairy conspiracies are great.
Sheep outfit. Says it all, really. Waterford Whispers territory.
@Martin Meyler: I’m presuming you’re being sarcastic? You do actually get it?
@Phillip O’Brien: well, duh…
The church’s capacity for irony has never been great.
And if you check the link, the clear aim is to lure in the kiddies. Which, you’d imagine at this stage, they might have copped on as to how that might be perceived.
They should all don sheep outfits.
How are we still so stupid as to still believe in this nonsense?
@Tony Doran: Slowly, but surely, we are overcoming it.
Ironing mammies?? Have we moved on at all? I’ve a feeling we’re not in 1979 anymore
Good to see the Church back in the laundry business.
Some of those Priestly vestments will need a good scrubbing..
Sheep thing is creepy…
Baa baa black sheep have you any wool, yes sir, yes sir, three bags full, one for the master, one for the slave and one for the little boy who lives down the lane…..Hmmmmmm.
The use of the Defence Forces to fill the gaps where insufficient volunteers were available is disgraceful.
The Defense Forces are not volunteers and have been ordered to fill the gaps where the church couldn’t provide. It’s a disgrace.
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