Statement on the death of Pope Francis by Social Democrats acting leader Cian O\u2019Callaghan:<\/p>\n
\u201cPope Francis embodied humility, compassion and charity. He was a champion for the marginalised and the poor, a powerful advocate for migrants and a fierce opponent of war.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis support for social and economic justice was particularly notable. Pope Francis consistently highlighted gross inequalities across the world and criticised economic systems that failed so many people. He also sought to repair the Church\u2019s relationship with the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n
\u201cPope Francis used his trip to Ireland in 2018 to address the scandal of child sexual abuse within the Church \u2013 acknowledging abuses of power, conscience and sexual abuse.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the end, Pope Francis was promoting peace and justice. In his final Easter Sunday address, the day before he died, Pope Francis made an impassioned plea for a ceasefire in Gaza and a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cPope Francis led the Church with decency, empathy and humanity. Ar dheis d\u00e9 go raibh a hanam d\u00edlis.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Statement on the death of Pope Francis by Social Democrats acting leader Cian O\u2019Callaghan: \u201cPope Francis embodied humility, compassion and charity. He was a champion for the marginalised and the poor, a powerful advocate for migrants and a fierce opponent of war. \u201cHis support for social and economic justice was particularly notable. Pope Francis consistently […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11216,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[278,1,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cian-ocallaghan","category-news","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n