TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN will today meet with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, for what will be the first meeting between a pontiff and a Taoiseach since 2018.

Back in 2018, then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had a brief and private meeting with the late Pope Francis who was in Ireland for the 2018 World Meeting of Families.

It was the first time a pope had been to Ireland since Pope John Paul II’s 1979 papal visit.

Speaking alongside Francis at Dublin Castle in 2018, Varadkar said religion can no longer be at the “centre of our society”.

Pope Francis with Leo Varadkar at Dublin Castle as part of his 2018 visit to Ireland. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

He also pointed to abuse scandals and mother and baby homes and stated that these represent “stains on our State, our society and also the Catholic Church”.

In the days after Francis’s death last April, Varadkar acknowledged that the meeting came at a time when relations between the Irish government and the Catholic Church were “quite difficult”.

“We had just voted to legalise abortion earlier that year, and we’d brought in marriage equality a few years before that,” Varadkar told BBC Radio Ulster.

“We had a number of years where we were dealing with a number of scandals in relation to child abuse and institutions in relation to mother and baby homes,” he added.

During the visit, Francis also met with Varadkar’s partner and the former Taoiseach said Francis was “very happy to do that”.

Varadkar noted that during his papacy, Francis “made some very positive and very welcome statements, and he spoke out against the criminalisation of gay and lesbian people around the world”.

Francis also met with former Taoiseach Enda Kenny in 2016 and the Vatican described this meeting as “cordial” and that the two discussed the “historic bond between the Holy See and Ireland”.

Pope Francis exchanges gifts with Enda Kenny during private audience at the Vatican in 2016 Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Kenny also visited Pope Benedict XVI at Castle Gandolfo, the summer retreat of popes which Francis opened up to the public.

Kenny was there as part of a delegation of centre-right European political parties and it was reported at the time that Kenny had no interaction with Benedict at this event.

However, it came around a year after Kenny told the Dáil that the findings of the Cloyne report reveals a “dysfunction, disconnection and elitism that dominate the culture of the Vatican to this day”.

The Cloyne report examined how allegations of child sexual abuse of children in the diocese of Cloyne were dealt with by the Church and State.

The report strongly condemned the Vatican’s response to child abuse allegations in Cloyne, stating that it had been “entirely unhelpful”. 

‘Deep pain and trauma’

Today’s private meeting between Martin and Pope Leo comes at a time when the pontiff is viewed very favourably around the world, in no small part due to his public rebuttals of US president Donald Trump.

The meeting will also be aided by the fact that language is no barrier, with Leo being the only native English-speaking pontiff since 1154.

Martin will also have a bilateral meeting with the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. 

Speaking ahead of the visit, Martin noted that Leo has “made peace a defining theme of his papacy”.

Indeed, Leo has made over 400 calls for peace since becoming pope.

Martin added that he expects to discuss how leaders can act together to bring an end to conflict in an “increasingly dangerous and divided world”.

“We know from our own experience on this island the challenge of finding lasting peace and how this crucial work continues,” said Martin.

“The role of the church and clergy from all denominations was critical to bringing about peace on this island and I will discuss with the Pope the ongoing process of reconciliation, including the difficult but essential work on addressing the legacy of the Troubles.”

Martin said he will also share with the pope plans for Ireland’s forthcoming Presidency of the EU.

However, Martin added that the private meeting is “also an opportunity to reflect on our relationship with the Church as a country in all its facets, including the deep pain and trauma of the survivors of clerical abuse and their needs”.

Meanwhile, it is not unusual for a pope to meet with presidents and prime ministers, and indeed, Leo sometimes meets with several in the one day.

For example, in one particularly busy day in March, Leo met with the presidents of both Austria and Singapore.

On the same day, the pope also met with the president of the World Bank Group and the Governor General of Canada.

Many leaders and heads of state make their way to the Vatican if they are in Rome, as Martin is today for a meeting with Italy prime minister Giorgia Meloni, and it is Vatican protocol to grant an audience if one is requested.

Martin is visiting Rome today primarily as part of his programme of meetings with leaders ahead of Ireland’s Presidency of the EU Council.