Taoiseach Varadkar has criticized the campaign, terming it petty.

Many Irish applied for tickets to the mass scheduled to be celebrated in Dublin's Phoenix Park by Pope Francis. Not many, however, will actually attend. The action of taking the free tickets and not going thereafter to the Francis helmed event is a part of the "Say Nope to the Pope" campaign. According to the latter's organizers, the protests will be peaceful and silent. Even the most optimistic estimate does not venture attendee numbers to exceed 500,000. The actual number of attendees could be much smaller. The campaign has requested its supporters to join clerical abuse survivors for August 26 vigils during Mass.

There were reports that a few individuals have booked hundreds of tickets to protest the Catholic Church's continuous efforts to recruit in Ireland. The Say Nope to the Pope movement, however, has publicly said it does not support people who booked a huge number of tickets. The organizers of the movement stated that their aim was to get tickets they are entitled to in the first place to peacefully protest one of the biggest corrupt organizations in the world.

Catholicism in Ireland is on the wane. Its vice-like grip on the Irish people is now a thing of the past. One reason among many is secularization, but the child abuse revelations are the principal reason the Irish population cannot stand the Vatican anymore. Many Irish say they have every right to collect tickets and not go, as the papal visit is financed by taxpayers. The public can collect as much as half a million tickets to the mass. About 45,000 more tickets are available to see the pontiff when he will visit the Knock-located Marian shrine.

A considerable number of protesters will participate in the vigil which will take place at the location of the mass grave site discovered in 2017. The grave has remains of approximately 800 infants. Many Irish people expressed their anger against the reprehensible treatment meted out to weak young women in Magdalene laundries. Many unmarried mothers have suffered the torture of their babies being taken away for adoption.

Say nope to the pope — Dozy Bowzer (@dozybowzer) August 24, 2018

This Say Nope to the Pope campaign came under heavy criticism from Leo Varadkar, Taoiseach of Ireland. Varadkar said that denying real attendees the probability of getting tickets amounts to pettiness. The Taoiseach clarified his statement, saying that although protest is okay, denying other individuals their chance to attend a pope’s mass is unfair and must be condemned.

Resources

Follow the Conversation on Twitter