The main celebration which will mark the Silver Jubilee of the Papal Visit will take place in Clonmacnois on the 19^th of September.  The venue chosen is not just suitable because it meant so much to Pope John Paul.  It is important in its own right.  When Saint Ciaran and his little band of followers landed there in January 545, he chose a prominent place for his monastery.  It is has been said that in present day language you could say that he picked the place where the M1 and the M2 met, the Esker Riada and the Shannon, the two main thoroughfares of the 6^th century in Ireland.  Here would develop a monastery second only to Armagh in importance and ahead of Armagh in literary and artistic achievement.  In Clonmacnois on the Cross of the Scriptures are carved two figures apparently driving a stake into the ground.  Some have said it represents Ciaran and  King Diarmuit, co-founding the monastery in 545.  Some say it more likely Abbot Colman and King Flann laying the foundation stone for what was the largest church in Ireland around the year 900.  Whichever choice you make, that panel speaks of foundation of more than monastery or church.  It speaks of the grounding of the faith.

The homilies and addresses given by Pope John Paul in Ireland were intended by him to reinforce our faith and ground it for modern times. His words were highly relevant and direct.  The well remembered phrases from his talks are still ringing in the ears of those who heard them. In the Phoenix Park he quoted words spoken by Augustine Birrell who was Secretary for Ireland early in the last century. He had said: "for the Irish it is the Mass that matters".  We heard those words with pride on that September day 25 years ago.  In Drogheda he said "I beg of you on bended knees", as he pleaded with those engaged in violence to bring it to an end.   In his last homily in Ireland, delivered in Limerick the pope spoke words which sound ever more prophetic.   He told us, "Ireland will have to choose".  Faith could not be taken for granted.  He saw that certain values, especially family values, would be tested in the new Ireland.   

The Silver Jubilee celebrations which will be held in Clonmacnois will be about recommitting ourselves to what is permanent and lasting. Remember that panel on the High Cross of the Scriptures in Clonmacnois: a king and a monk, the State and the Church, saying 'yes' to a shared vision.  "Whole generations of Europe owe to them the light of the Gospel and the structural framework of their culture", the Pope said of the ancient ruins of Clonmacnois.  We should be proud to remember this in 2004.   

+Colm O'Reilly.
Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois.

Map of Clonmacnois site

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