"No Pope Here": Britain, the Vatican, the IRA, and the Papal Visit to Ireland, September 1979. Issue 3 (September 2021)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- "No Pope Here": Britain, the Vatican, the IRA, and the Papal Visit to Ireland, September 1979. Issue 3 (September 2021)
- Main Title:
- "No Pope Here": Britain, the Vatican, the IRA, and the Papal Visit to Ireland, September 1979
- Authors:
- Doherty, Martin
- Abstract:
- Abstract: It is often assumed, particularly by outsiders, that the conflict in Northern Ireland—known euphemistically as "the Troubles"—in which some 3, 600 people lost their lives, was an atavistic throwback to Europe's religious wars of earlier centuries. In 1979, by which time some 2, 000 people had already been killed in the Troubles, Pope John Paul II proposed to pay a visit to Ireland and perhaps to cross the border into Ulster's sectarian cockpit. The idea provoked outrage from some Ulster Protestants and high anxiety for the British, concerned that the Pope might inadvertently inflame the situation or embarrass the British by raising difficult issues. But there were hopes, too, that an unequivocal condemnation of violence by the head of the Catholic Church might help to bring the conflict to an end. This article, based on extensive research in diplomatic archives, reveals deep divisions within the Catholic Church on the Irish question and points to the power and limitations of the British diplomatic reach into the Vatican. It reveals also, however, the powerlessness of prayer and pleadings in the face of terrorist violence.
- Is Part Of:
- Church history. Volume 90:Issue 3(2021)
- Journal:
- Church history
- Issue:
- Volume 90:Issue 3(2021)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 90, Issue 3 (2021)
- Year:
- 2021
- Volume:
- 90
- Issue:
- 3
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2021-0090-0003-0000
- Page Start:
- 603
- Page End:
- 620
- Publication Date:
- 2021-09
- Subjects:
- John Paul II -- Irish Republican Army -- UK Foreign Office -- the Vatican
Church history -- Periodicals
270.05 - Journal URLs:
- http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=CHH ↗
http://purl.org/atlaonline/pls/eli/eli_bd.volsuper?TXT=n0009-6407 ↗
http://www.jstor.org/journals/00096407.html ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1017/S0009640721002134 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0009-6407
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store
- Ingest File:
- 20234.xml