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Obedientia Civium
Lord Mayor of Dublin's
visit to
His Holiness Pius XI
from minutes of the
Municipal Council of the City of Dublin, 1933.
Meeting of 4 December 1933
219. Submitted letter,—(No. 8358/1933) :—
Mansion House, Dublin,
4th. December, 1933.
Dear City Manager,
My colleagues of the City Council arid yourself will, I know, be anxious to hear of my visit to the Eternal City, and I therefore attach herewith translated copy of the Address of Homage which I presented to His Holiness on behalf of our Dublin citizens, and also a copy of the conversation which took place when hé received my wife, daughter and myself in private audience on the 27th. October, 1933.
My party included my wife, eldest daughter—May, my Chaplaln—Fr. McArdle, Councillor Mrs. M. Walsh, and Councillor P. J. Cahill.
At 2 p.m. on Monday, the 23rd. October, the Holy Father received the members of the Irish National Pilgrimage, headed by the Most Rev. Dr. Wall, Bishop of Thasos. The pilgrims were all deeplv impressed by the cordiality of the welcome of His Holiness, and listened with rapt attention when he addressed us for over half-an-hour. The Holy Father imparted a special blessing to the pilgrims, their relatives and homes, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the representatives of the Irish Government and the Dublin Corporation. On this occasion Rt. Rev. Monsignor Curran acted as interpreter for His Holiness.
The following were then brought to the ante-ehamber for a Private Audience :—
Most Rev. Dr. Wall, Bishop oí Thasos; Mr. S. T. 0'Kelly, Vice-President; Rt. Rev. Mgr. Curran; the Ven. Archdeacon Nolan, P.P., V.G.; Rev. G. Turley, C.C. ; Rev. T. J. O'Connell; Rev. J. Mathews; Rev. J. McArdle; Sir Joseph Glynn; Dr. 0'Reilly; Dr. M. S. Walsh; Mrs. Maud Walsh; Councillor Cahill; Mr. P. J. Graves; Master Peter Byrne (13), of 49 Atlantic Ave., Belfast, the youngest pilgrim; my wife and myself. At this audience His Holiness spoke to Mr. S. T. O'Kellv and myself, and blessed the hands of Dr. Wall.
A few days afterwards, on Friday, the 27th October, His H oliness received my wife, daughter and myself in his private library. We were introduced by the Rev. Fr. Nolan, O.P., Superior of the Dominican Convent and the Dominican Univer-sity in Rome. I tendered to His Holiness the homage and loyalty of Dublin, and asked for a special blessing on the Irish people and the people of Dublin who are unemployed, and are poor. His Holiness received my request with paternal feeling, and in return he asked many questions concerning the condition. of Ireland and her people, and said he was particularly interested in their welfare. Speaking directly to me. he said:—
“I want the Irish people and the people of Dublin to know that' in receiving you I am receiving them, and that I give you my special blessing, invoking the blessing of God ori you and on the Irish people at home.”
He then bestowed his blessing on my wife, daughter and myself, and going to his desk he took out a large gold medallion, which he offered to me as a souvenir of the Holy Year and of my visit to Rome. His Holiness then gave a silver medallion to my wife. and a bronze medallion to my daughter.
Fr. McArdle and Councillor Mrs. M. Walsh were then intro- duced to His Holiness, who gave them his special blessing. Councillor P. J. Cahill could not be present, as, owing to my slight accident, he left with the pilgrims to represent me at Venice.
It was a wonderful trip, rendered all the more so by the kindly reception which we received everywhere, and by the kindness and attention of our leader, Dr. Wall. He had the comfort of everyone at heart, and his thoughtfulness endeared him to the hearts of all.
The Audiences with our Holy Father were rnost inspiring, and the peaceful feeling which we all experienced when in his company will live for ever in our memory.
Yours sincerely,
ALFRED BYRNE,
Lord Mayor.
G. J. Sherlock, Esq.;
City Manager and Town Clerk,
City Hall, Dublin.
THE RIGHT HON. THE LORD MAYOR OF DUBLIN'S
PRIVATE AUDIENCE WITH
HIS HOLINESS POPE PIUS XI.
To-day, 26th. October, 1933; His Holiness Pope Pius XI received in Private Audience the Right Hon. Alfred Byrne, Lord Mayor of Dubiin, with the Lady Mayoress and their daughter, Mary. They were presented by the Very Revd. Louis Nolan, O.P., Rome.
Áfter the Lord Mayor had delivered an address of homage to his Holiness for the great honour that was being accorded him of a Private Audience with the Vicar of Christ, the Holy Father replied that to him the Audience was specially pleasing because in receiving Dublin's first citizen in the person of the Lord Mayor he was receiving Dublin itself, and, consequently, the capital of Catholic Ireland. The name of Dublin was, he said, very dear to him, especially since the Eucharistic Congress held there last year, and which was such a glorious success and which so deeplv impressed the nations of the world that took part in it, of the great faith and fervour of the Irish people.
The Lord Mayor then mentioned to his Holiness some of the wonderful effects of the Congress on the life of the people and especially on the poor of' Dublin, that poor of Dublin that did so much in their own humble but wonderfully characteristic and faithful manner to contríbute towards the success of the Congress; that the Congress seems to have given to the poor and the unemployed fresh vigour and courage to bear with resignation their poverty and their trials, and thus bring them nearer to God, and to find in sorrow an instrurnent of attaining to the riches of eternal life. And to this His Holiness replied that such are some of the effects of the Eucharistic Congresses, for the Holy Eucharist Itself is the great bond of union betweén man and man, and man and God. And did not Jesus in His-prayer to His Eternal Father, after the Institution of the Holy Eucharist, say: “That they all may be one, as Thou, Father in Me, and I in Thee : that they also may be one in us." (St. John xvii., 2.). And the Holy Father prayed that such blessings may descend and continue to descend on the people of Dublin and of Ireland, and especially on the poor, the unemploved and the suffering.
His Holiness then went on to speak of the Irish Pilgrimage, in which the Lord Mayor had taken a distinguished part, and of his great satisfaction that the pilgrimage was so large and representative; and its significance was all the greater to him because of the distance that had to be travelled, and the economic state of the country at present. And he said that he felt convinced that so many sacrifices, so generously made, and so rnuch prayer could not but restore peace and order once rnore to the world in this year of Jubilee.
After further very cordial conversation, His Holiness blessed the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress and their family, he blessed also the Dublin Corporation and all the citizens of Dublin, and in a special manner the poor and the unemployed whose lot the Lord Mayor had so much at heart. And as a token of His great pleasure in receiving the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress and all the members of the suite, and as a souvenir of their Jubilee visit to Rome, His Holiness presented to the Lord Mayor a large gold medal commemorating the Holy Year, to the Lady Mayoress a similar medal in silver, and to their daughter one in bronze.
The Lord Mayor then introduced his Chaplain, Rev. Fr. McArdle, C.C., of Marlborough Street, and Councillor Mrs. Maud Walsh. His Holiness spoke most graciously to them, and gave a special blessing to Fr. McArdle for himself and the vast parish of Marlborough Street; and when blessing Mrs. Maud Walsh, His Holiness remarked playfully : "And so there are ladies among the City Fathers of Dublin."
The Holy Father then giving the whole party his final blessing, smilingly waved good-bye to all.
COPY OF ADDRESS TO HIS HOLINESS POPE PIUS XI.
Most Holy Father,
In this Holy Year when Your faithful children from every part of the Christian world are flocking to Rome to join with their Common Father in the due celebration of the Nineteenth :Centenary of the Sufferings and Death of the Divine Redeemer of Mankind, many of our citizens have joined the Irish National Pilgrimage which has the blessing and approval of our beloved Episcopate. Impelled by filial love, we, the members of the Dublin City Council, humbly prostrate at the feet of Your Holiness, tender, through our Lord Mayor, the homage and the unalterable fidelity of the Citizens of Dublin to the Apostolic See.
We rejoice that Your Holiness in these anxious years has been strengthened by divine grace to sustain the honour and glory of the Christian Name, and wc pray that God may continue to preserve You to defend valiantly the True Faith.
We ferventlv beseech Him to endow You with health and strength and length of years and to hasten the happy day when Your eyes shall be blessed by beholding firmly established that " Peace of Christ in the kingdom of Christ " which You so ardently desire.
Most Holy Father, we crave your Apostolic Blessing for ourselves, our kinsfolk, and our City which was so honoured by the visit of Your Apostolic Legate last year on the occasion of the Eucharistic Congress. We beg Your blessing, too, for our ever-faithful Country, that, as from the first moment of her reception from Rome of the precious beritage of Faith, she has, in unbroken union clung to Rome, so may she, unto the end of time, be inseparably bound to the Holy See of Peter and its August Pontiff in indissoluble bonds of obedience and unity of belief.
Signed on behalf of the Dublin City Council,
(Signed) ALFRED BYRNE,
.
Lord Mayor.
(Signed) IGNATIUS J. RICE,
Deputy City Manager
and Town Clerk.
It was moved by Councillor Coyle, P.C. ; and, seconded by Alderman Breathnach, T.D. :—" That this letter and enclosures be entered on the Minutes " : The motion was put and carried.
Correct:
THOMAS J. O'NEILL,
Clerk to the Council.
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