So who's going to see the Pope?

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Faith is not a financial investment, so monitising it is pointless



Oh never underestimate the power of faith and ultimately hope, catholicism isn't dead yet

No, it's not dead yet, it likely will be around for hundreds of years.

But there are places where the pope would get far greater attendance and more bang for buck, given he's a busy guy and can't spend his life on the road.

As head pointy hat guy, he has a duty to spread the word to as many as he can. Poland, Brazil, Italy, sure, but Ireland? No. No longer worth his time.

murpho999 wrote: »

Over a million managed it in 1979 and public transport wasn't as good then, Darts didn't exist then.

The interest is just not there as Ireland is not as religious as it was despite what RTE would have you believe with their OTT coverage.

In 1979 there was a lot of walking to be done, but the difference is that the grey vote back then who stayed at home made no real difference to the overall number. All ages attended, from 2 to 82. Matt Cooper did a mini documentary on it and lots of people recall feeling like, "God himself was coming to visit Ireland".

So it didn't really matter back then that older people couldn't make the walk, because the youth were more than happy to go. The only people who stayed at home deliberately were "edgy lefties rebelling against their parents".

But what this 130,000 figure has proven is just how bad a state the church is in. Older people didn't make the trip because they couldn't. And very few others went. In 20 years time the older faithful will be gone, and there's nobody left to take their place. 130,000 people, and maybe some of their children, will carry the can.

There is a huge statement in the fact that there were empty seats in Croke Park for an audience with the Pope, but there wasn't and won't be empty seats for the GAA finals.

I said earlier upthread that I'm happy this €32m was spent, because it has proven exactly how massive a gulf there is between what the government thinks about Irish peoples' faith, and reality. And hopefully politicians will take heed in future and give far less speaking time to church leaders who clearly no longer speak for very many people.

In hindsight, RTÉ basically embarrassed itself with the amount of wall-to-wall coverage that relatively few people watched. But again, it illustrates the gulf between what RTÉ heads think people want and what people actually want. The top brass in RTÉ have paid fealty to the church via Opus Dei for decades, and now they're visibly out of step with society.

seamus wrote: »

In hindsight, RTÉ basically embarrassed itself with the amount of wall-to-wall coverage that relatively few people watched. But again, it illustrates the gulf between what RTÉ heads think people want and what people actually want. The top brass in RTÉ have paid fealty to the church via Opus Dei for decades, and now they're visibly out of step with society.

That's been fairly obvious for a long time now.

If you cannot keep a financially viable media enterprise without handouts, then you are not offering what the market wants.

seamus wrote: »

In 1979 there was a lot of walking to be done, but the difference is that the grey vote back then who stayed at home made no real difference to the overall number. All ages attended, from 2 to 82. Matt Cooper did a mini documentary on it and lots of people recall feeling like, "God himself was coming to visit Ireland".

So it didn't really matter back then that older people couldn't make the walk, because the youth were more than happy to go. The only people who stayed at home deliberately were "edgy lefties rebelling against their parents".

But what this 130,000 figure has proven is just how bad a state the church is in. Older people didn't make the trip because they couldn't. And very few others went. In 20 years time the older faithful will be gone, and there's nobody left to take their place. 130,000 people, and maybe some of their children, will carry the can.

There is a huge statement in the fact that there were empty seats in Croke Park for an audience with the Pope, but there wasn't and won't be empty seats for the GAA finals.

I said earlier upthread that I'm happy this €32m was spent, because it has proven exactly how massive a gulf there is between what the government thinks about Irish peoples' faith, and reality. And hopefully politicians will take heed in future and give far less speaking time to church leaders who clearly no longer speak for very many people.

In hindsight, RTÉ basically embarrassed itself with the amount of wall-to-wall coverage that relatively few people watched. But again, it illustrates the gulf between what RTÉ heads think people want and what people actually want. The top brass in RTÉ have paid fealty to the church via Opus Dei for decades, and now they're visibly out of step with society.

I hope that it also gives the government the kick it needs to accelerate the divestment of primary schools from the church

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Cost, investment! This isn't a monetary game!

Of course it was a monetary game, they brought in the great and the good of the business world to try and recoup the investment.

The came up with a great wheeze to get around the rule that you 'cannot charge money for seeing the pope' in Croke park. They initially said that only those buying the 3 day ticket to the WMOF would get tickets to Croke Park. This enabled them to monetise seeing the pope. When the uptake wasn't could enough on that they started to panic and give tickets away for free.

Wanderer78 wrote: »

I wouldn't get overly excited, we ve just replaced this oppressor with others, we re a Fecken odd bunch

whom?

lawred2 wrote:

whom?

Does it always need to be a whom? We re well capable of oppressing ourselves with our unusual ideals and ideas

Sycamore Tree wrote: »

I find it very very odd that the pope wasn't aware of Magdelene laundries or Industrial schools. Who is advising him?

This papal visit was a disaster for Rome. I hope more cultural Catholics find the courage to tick the correct box on the census form so we can move on as a country.

This is another one of his many lies imo. The church is/has been sued over this. The victims were hand picked so his advisers knew how each person was effected. His advisers would have given him a quick brief on each one. Philomena Lee met the Pope a few years ago. He was aware of mother & baby homes then.


I 100 percent agree about the census. The government needs to start an education program explaining how the census effects our lives in years to come

Sleeper12 wrote: »

This is another one of his many lies imo. The church is/has been sued over this. The victims were hand picked so his advisers knew how each person was effected. His advisers would have given him a quick brief on each one. Philomena Lee met the Pope a few years ago. He was aware of mother & baby homes then.


I 100 percent agree about the census. The government needs to start an education program explaining how the census effects our lives in years to come

or you know - the citizen could take some responsibility and educate themselves

Sleeper12 wrote: »

This is another one of his many lies imo. The church is/has been sued over this. The victims were hand picked so his advisers knew how each person was effected. His advisers would have given him a quick brief on each one. Philomena Lee met the Pope a few years ago. He was aware of mother & baby homes then.


I 100 percent agree about the census. The government needs to start an education program explaining how the census effects our lives in years to come

They need to take the question of the census altogether. What business is it of a supposedly secular state what religion you or I profess.

In terms of 'future planning' which is the purpose of the census, what religion you are should be way down the list of considerations in catering for your needs.
If you need a church, let religions provide them based on need.

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I said this earlier on a different thread but here goes. Shirley Bassy played in a field about 10 years ago in the pouring rain. Men & women of all ages still went. They put on their wellies & slummed it for the day. My own mother was in her early 70s at the time. If the Stones played Slane yesterday I would have been part of a 80,000 sell out gig covered in muck.


There were tons of tickets. Many people applied for tickets several times to ensure that they got at least some tickets. Many, many people had 50 or more spare tickets because of this. These tickets flooded facebook & other social media. DoneDeal, Adverts & just about every local come & take my away for free group/ page. Some were even offered here on Boards. All of these were offered for free. Right up to Saturday night I saw lots of free tickets.


Anyone that really wanted to go did go. Thats a simple fact. The turnout in Dublin city was a fifth of the expected crowd. No tickets needed at all & a beautiful sunny day. 40 years ago people would have crawled over dead bodies to see the pope. This time they said, "na, I'm not bothered"

According to my In Laws there were hundreds tickets in Phibsboro church left for people to take if they wanted them all through the week. That's a stones throw from Phoenix Park and there was just no interest.

There was absolutely no shortage of tickets just a shortage of people who wanted them

RoryMac wrote: »

According to my In Laws there were hundreds tickets in Phibsboro church left for people to take if they wanted them all through the week. That's a stones throw from Phoenix Park and there was just no interest.

There was absolutely no shortage of tickets just a shortage of people who wanted them

well to be fair - you won't find too many catholics in a church these days