Caitríona Twomey recalls late Pope's 'special smile' when he visited Ireland 

Taoiseach Mícheál Martin is to leaders from across the globe at the funeral of Pope Francis, which will take place in St Peter’s Square in Rome on Saturday morning.

The Fianna Fáil leader will be accompanied to the funeral by Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, where they will US president Donald Trump, French president Emmanuel Macron, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The remains of Pope Francis will be removed to St Peter’s Basilica this morning from the chapel in Casa St Marta, where he had lived during his time as pontiff. They will lie in state until Friday.

Meanwhile, in Cork, Caitríona Twomey of Penny Dinners shared her recollection of singing for Pope Francis as part of the High Hopes Choir during the World Meeting of Families at Croke Park in August 2018.

Humility

Ms Twomey said: “We could feel that connection with Pope Francis, we could feel his humility, we could see the smile that was very special to everybody and we all felt it together as we were all looking at him, and there was a moment in time where the Pope is looking at us, he’s smiling at us. He was sitting right next to us on the podium. He had the whole world in his hands at that stage because he had us, and we sang our hearts out.

“You could see the humility in him, the understanding, the comion, it was all there. It’s very rare to see that in somebody or to be that close to somebody that gives you that, and we all got it, the whole lot of us, every single one of us.”

Ms Twomey also met with Pope Francis, who ed her and others at the Peter McVerry Trust during the two-day visit to Ireland in 2018.

Gratitude

The Bishop of Cloyne, William Crean, has issued a statement to express his sadness following the death of Pope Francis, in which he said that the great legacy of his papal ministry to the Church and the world would be grasped in time: “Though sad of heart, our sadness is tempered by a profound sense of gratitude for this generous and courageous pastor.

“Each parish community will be organising a liturgy of remembrance for the repose of his gentle soul. The Diocese of Cloyne will gather this Friday evening at St Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, at 7.30pm to pray for his eternal repose.”

The late Pope’s efforts to reach out to the LGBT+ community were acknowledged by former taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Mr Varadkar met Francis during the Pope’s visit to Ireland in 2018.

He told RTÉ: “I think the way he reached out to groups like ours, like LGBT people, did matter, and certainly made me feel more comfortable going to church services.”