Pope Francis 
Staff Reporter
Through a warm burst of applause the congregation at the annual Clonard novena have tasked the papal nuncio with passing on an invitation for Pope Francis to visit the Belfast monastery during his expected trip to Ireland in 2018.
The Pope’s representative to Ireland, Archbishop Charles Brown, celebrated the youth session at Clonard novena on Sunday night, which was packed to capacity and full of “joy and faith” according to rector Fr Noel Kehoe CSsR.
At the end of Mass when Fr Kehoe asked the crowd “if he was to come to the North, would the people of Clonard welcome Pope Francis?” the congregation responded with loud applause. Archbishop Brown said he was certain Pope Francis “would feel very welcome here in Clonard and so we have to pray for that intention and put it in the hands of Our Lady”.
Devotion
Over 15,000 people a day have been attending the novena which began last week. “It’s standing room only,” said Fr Kehoe. “All the corridors of the monastery, the conference room, the parlours and the marquee are full.”
The Redemptorist novena is also underway in Limerick and Fr Seamus Enright CSsR told The Irish Catholic over 10,000 people a day are coming to Mount St Alphonsus. “The devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help is very deep and strong in Limerick and the novena is so much part of the life of the people,” he said.
