Pope calls for peace: I.R.A. talks of truce

Press, 1 October 1979, Page 1

Pope calls for peace: I.R.A. talks of truce

NZPA-Reuter Drogheda. Irish Republic Rope John Paul has appealed to Irish terrorists to abandon violence and hatred.

“On my knees I beg you to turn away from the paths of violence and to return to the ways of peace,” the Pope said. He was speaking on Saturday evening to about 250,000 people, nearly all from Northern Ireland, which has been wracked by sectarian violence that has claimed nearly 2000 lives in the last 10 years. “I appeal to young people who may have become caught in organisations engaged in violence,” he said.

“I say to you, with all the love I have for you, with all the trust I have in young people, do not listen to voices which speak the language of hatred, revenge, retaliation. “Do not follow any leaders who train you in the ways of inflicting death.” The Pope was speaking during a prayer ceremony at Drogheda which was dedicated to the half-mil-lion Roman Catholics of Northern Ireland. Terrorists of the Provisional Irish Republican Army have been fighting for British withdrawal from the province. But its one million Protestants have said they will fight to the death against for-

cible unification with the Roman Catholic-dominated south. The Pope said, “The longer the violence continues in Ireland the more the danger will grow that this beloved land could become yet another theatre for international terrorism.” It would “drag down to ruin the land you claim to love and the values you claim to cherish,” he said. He also said politicians had to find a peaceful solution urgently.

“Do not cause or conor tolerate conditions which give excuse or pretext to men of violence. Those who resort to violence always claim that only violence brings about change ...

“You politicians must prove them to be wrong. You must show that there is a peaceful, political way to justice.”

The Provisional I.R.A. said it was studying the Pope’s plea for peace but that a ceasefire would be possible only if the politicians offered “a reasonable solution to the Irish question.”

The Belfast command of the Provisional I.R.A. in a statement to the British Army command, said, “We owe our religious allegiance to the Pope but the Irish struggle is a political one.”

“However if the Holy Father can offer the possibility of justice for Ireland without violence we shall be glad to lay down our arms.

“Following the reaction from our active-service

units we are offering the possibility of ending hostilities provided politicians offer a reasonable solution to the Irish question.”

Most Protestant leaders hailed the Pope’s call for an end to the violence.

“We were greatly encouraged,” said Archbishop George Simms, Anglican Primate of All Ireland. “There was realism in what he said, that murder was murder.” But the Ulster Protestant leader, lan Paisley, condemned the plea as

“giving comfort to the 1.R.A.”

“He simply repeated what has been said before,” he said. “He talked about the injustice and social discrimination which must be put right but said that this should take priority over law and order. That’s nonsense. I

wasn’t very impressed at all.” The sombre tone of the Pope’s speech contrasted with the spectacular openair mass for more than one million Irish people which he celebrated earlier in the day in a festive atmosphere at Dublin’s Phoenix Park. At Drogheda he faced a vast throng of people from Northern Ireland who had crossed the border only 48km away. Joy and hope shone in faces which have so often expressed weariness and fear.

The Pope’s speech was the strongest ever made by a Roman Catholic leader on the emotive Northern Ireland issue. He appealed clearly and dierctly both to the I.R.A. and to Protestant paramilitary groups to lay down their weapons. After his speech at Drogheda the Pope had a few hours sleep in Dublin before another hectic day. His first call was on mentally and physicallyhandicapped children at the Dominican convent in Cabra, Dublin. But even before he was awake a vast army of the young and old, of the crippled and infirm, was heading for the day’s main events

in the hope of seeing him. The blessing of the handicapped children was a moving scene.

The Pope, obviously touched by the children’s plight, walked from one to the other putting his hand on their heads and blessing them. The Pope later prayed in the ruins of a sixthcentury Irish monastery which was a beacon of Christian culture in Europe’s Dark Ages. He flew by helicopter to Clonmacnois Monastery, on the banks of the Shannon River, and prayed among sculptured Celtic crosses more than 1000 years old. The highlight of the day was expected to be a pilgrimage to Knock, in County Mayo, where the Virgin Mary is supposed to have appeared at the village church 100 years ago.