The President, Taoiseach and Tánaiste have led Irish tributes to the late Pope Benedict XVI, who died this morning.
President Michael D. Higgins said in his message that Benedict will be remembered for “his untiring efforts to find a common path in promoting peace and goodwill throughout the world”, including for maintaining a “steadfast interest” in peace in Northern Ireland.
Also of note was the “value he attached to intellectual work and for the personal commitment he gave to such within the Roman Catholic Church,” the president said.
“Of particular importance was that during his tenure, Pope Benedict sought to highlight both the common purpose of the world’s major religions and his injunctions as to how our individual responsibilities as citizens require the highest standards of ethics in our actions.
“May I extend my condolences to his family, to Pope Francis, to Archbishop Eamon Martin, to his friends and colleagues, and to all members of the Catholic Faith both in Ireland and across the world,” President Higgins concluded.
An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that he was “saddened” to learn of Benedict’s death this morning.
“Leading the Catholic Church for almost a decade, the son of a police officer and a cook, the first German elected as pope in one thousand years, he was ultimately a ‘humble worker in vineyard of the Lord’,” Mr Varadkar said, adding that his thoughts are with Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin and all those in Ireland who will find the news saddening and difficult.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin TD said that Pope Benedict will continue to hold a “special place in the collective memory of Catholics the world over” as the first pope in almost 600 years to retire.
“He showed great strength of character and humility in leaving the papacy at a time when by his own analysis, his declining health meant he could not provide the leadership he felt the Church required at the time.”
Mr Martin also remembered the late pope’s commitment to global peace, including in Northern Ireland, and extended his condolences to those affected by the news.
