Ep 237 The Papal Visit

Pope Francis touches down on Irish soil this Saturday morning 25th August, for the second papal visit in Ireland's history. For many Catholics this is an occasion to be celebrated, but for countless other people the arrival of the pope stirs up feelings of anger at the legacy of the relationship between church and state in Ireland. Maeve O'Rourke is a senior research and policy officer at the ICCL and has worked tirelessly on behalf of the Magdalene women on a voluntary basis. Conall Ó Fátharta is a journalist with the Irish Examiner and has written extensively about mother and baby homes, forced adoptions and the Magdalene women for that paper. In today's episode they speak to Kathy Sheridan about the ongoing problems with how Ireland is addressing its legacy of church-related abuse.Also on the podcast, Emer McLysaght, co-author of Oh My God What a Complete Aisling and it's soon-to-be-published follow-up, The Importance of Being Aisling, reads a letter to the pope from the much-loved character she created with Sarah Breen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.