Dublin: Final Mass with Pope Francis at Phoenix Park

An estimated crowd of 500,000 people gathered in Dublin's Phoenix Park for the closing Mass of the World Meeting of Families on Sunday afternoon. St John Paul II celebrated Mass here in 1979. When he died in 2005, the Irish faithful gathered for a Vigil to remember the man who had told the youth of the country, "young people of Ireland, I love you."

Upon his arrival, Pope Francis was welcomed by the Archbishop of Dublin, Mgr Diarmuid Martin, who accompanied him on the popemobile to complete the tour among the faithful.

At the beginning of Mass the Pope made the following penitential act:

Yesterday, I met with eight survivors who have suffered abuse of power, of conscience and sexual abuse. Taking up on what they said to me, I want to place before the mercy of the Lord these crimes and ask forgiveness for them.

We ask forgiveness for the abuses in Ireland, abuses of power, of conscience and sexual abuse perpetrated by members with roles of responsibility in the Church. In a special way, we ask pardon for all the abuses committed in various types of institutions run by male or female religious and by other members of the Church. Furthermore, we ask forgiveness for the cases of exploitation through manual work that so many minors were inflicted.

We ask forgiveness for the times that as a Church we did not show survivors of all kinds of abuse: compassion and the search for justice and truth through concrete actions. We ask forgiveness.

We ask forgiveness for some members of the Church's hierarchy who did not take charge of these painful situations and kept quiet. We ask forgiveness.

We ask forgiveness for the children who were taken away from their moms and for all those times when many single mothers were told that to seek their children who had been separated from them - and the same was told to their daughters and sons who were looking for their mothers - that this was a mortal sin. This is not a mortal sin but the Fourth Commandment. We ask forgiveness.

Lord, sustain and increase this state of shame and repentance and give us the strength to commit ourselves so that these things never happen again and justice may be done. Amen.

In his homily, Pope Francis focussed on the Sunday's Gospel reading, in which Jesus said: "with the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit, are teeming with life for us who accept them in faith." It is a promise "of a new Pentecost, a domestic Pentecost, a fresh outpouring of the Spirit, the Paraclete, whom Jesus sends as our Advocate, our Consoler, and indeed, our Encourager."

The Pope insisted on the need for encouragement in the modern world, and said that "one of the fruits" of the World Meeting of Families would be for participants to return to their homes "and become a source of encouragement for others. He called on them to bear witness to the sacrificial love of Jesus, "the love that alone can save our world from its bondage to sin, selfishness, greed, and indifference to the less fortunate." That, he said, "is the love we have come to know in Christ Jesus."

But he also acknowledged that "the task of bearing witness to this Good News is not easy. Recalling great Irish missionaries like St Columbanus, Pope Francis said: "Their extraordinary missionary success was not based on tactical methods or strategic plans, but on a humble and liberating docility to the promptings of the Holy Spirit."

The Pope said that "through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, each Christian is sent forth to be a missionary, 'a missionary disciple'." In fact, "the Church as a whole is called to 'go forth" to bring the words of eternal life to all the peripheries of our world." And he concluded with a stirring challenge for the whole Church, "parents and grandparents, children and young people, men and women, religious brothers and sisters, contemplatives and missionaries, deacons and priests" to "Share the Gospel of the family as joy for the world!"

The full homily text follows:

You have words of eternal life! ( Jn 6:68).

At the conclusion of this World Meeting of Families, we gather as a family around the table of the Lord. We thank the Lord for the many blessings received in our families. We want to commit ourselves to live fully our vocation to be, according to the touching words of Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, "love in the heart of the Church".

In this precious moment of communion with one another and with the Lord, it is good to pause and consider the source of all the good things we have received. Jesus reveals the origin of these blessings in today's Gospel, when he speaks to his disciples. Many of them were upset, confused and even angry, debated whether to accept his "harsh words", so contrary to the wisdom of this world. In reply, the
Lord tells them directly: "The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life" ( Jn 6:63).

These words, with their promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit, are overflowing with life for us who welcome them in faith. They indicate the ultimate source of all the good that we have experienced and celebrated here in these days: the Spirit of God, who constantly breathes new life on the world, in hearts, in families, in homes and in parishes. Every new day in the life of our families, and every new generation, brings with it the promise of a new Pentecost, a domestic Pentecost , a new outpouring of the Spirit, the Paraclete , which Jesus sends us as our Advocate, our Comforter and the One who it really gives us courage.

How much does the world need of this encouragement which is God's gift and promise! As one of the fruits of this celebration of family life, may you return to your homes and become a source of encouragement for others, to share with them "the words of eternal life" of Jesus. In fact, your families are both a privileged place and a an important means to spread those words as "good news" for everyone, especially for those who wish to leave the desert and the "house of slavery" (cf. Gs 24:17) to go to the promised land of hope and freedom.

In today's second reading, St Paul tells us that marriage is a participation in the mystery of Christ's perennial fidelity to his bride, the Church (cf. Eph 5:32). However, this teaching, although magnificent, can appear to someone as a "hard word". Why live in love, as Christ loved us (cf. Eph5,2), involves the imitation of his own self-sacrifice, involves dying to ourselves to be reborn to a greater and more lasting love. That love that alone can save the world from the slavery of sin, from selfishness, from greed and indifference towards the needs of the less fortunate. This is the love we have known in Jesus Christ. It has become incarnate in our world through a family, and through the witness of Christian families in every generation it has the power to break every barrier to reconcile the world with God and make of us what we have always been destined to be: a single human family that lives together in justice, holiness, peace.

The task of bearing witness to this Good News is not easy. However, the challenges facing Christians today are, in their own way, no less difficult than those faced by the first Irish missionaries. I think of San Colombano, who with his small group of comrades brought the light of the Gospel to European lands in an era of darkness and cultural decadence. Their extraordinary missionary success was not based on tactical methods or strategic plans, no, but on a humble and liberating docility to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. It was their daily testimony of fidelity to Christ and among them that conquered the hearts that ardently desired a word of grace and which contributed to the birth of European culture.

Naturally, there will always be people who will oppose the Good News, which will "murmur" against his "harsh words". However, like San Colombano and his companions, who faced icy waters and stormy seas to follow Jesus, let us never let ourselves be influenced or discouraged by the icy gaze of indifference or the stormy winds of hostility.

However, we humbly recognize that if we are honest with ourselves, we can also find the teachings of Jesus hard. How hard it is always to forgive those who hurt us! What a challenge it is always to welcome the migrant and the stranger! How painful it is to endure disappointment, rejection, betrayal! How uncomfortable it is to protect the rights of the most frail, the unborn or the older, which seem to disturb our sense of freedom.

However, it is precisely in those circumstances that the Lord asks us: "Do you also want to go away?" ( Jn 6:67). With the power of the Spirit that encourages us and with the Lord always at our side, we can answer: "We have believed and known that you are the Holy One of God" (verse 69). With the people of Israel, we can repeat: 'We will serve the Lord, for he is our God "( Josh24:18).

With the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, every Christian is sent to be a missionary, a "missionary disciple" (cf. Evangelii gaudium , 120). The Church as a whole is called to "go out" to bring the words of eternal life to the peripheries of the world. May this our celebration of today confirm each of you, parents and grandparents, children and young people, men and women, brothers and sisters, contemplatives and missionaries, deacons and priests and bishops, in sharing the joy of the Gospel! May you share the Gospel of the family as a joy for the world!

In preparing ourselves to take each one our own way, let us renew our fidelity to the Lord and to the vocation to which he has called each of us. By making our prayer of Saint Patrick, we repeat each one with joy: "Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ beside me, Christ below me, Christ above me" [repeats it in Gaelic]. With the joy and strength conferred by the Holy Spirit, let us confidently say to him: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life "( Jn 6:68)....

Before the final blessing, Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, announced the decision of the Holy Father to hold the tenth Meeting World Family Day in Rome in 2021, on the 5th anniversary of the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia.