Limerick man: 'Meeting Pope will be etched in my mind forever'

A NEWCASTLE West man who met the late Pope Francis as recently as February has said: “The experience will be etched in my mind forever”.

Dr James Lawlor, the executive director of youth organisation Narrative Four, which uses storytelling to effect change, was one of a group of people to meet the head of the Catholic Church two months ago.

He is believed to be one of the last Limerick people to meet Pope Francis before he became ill and died this week.

“It was a surreal and humbling experience to meet the Pope,” James said. “I found him to be humble and warm with a lovely sense of humour. A man of integrity and obvious faith.”

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He revealed he received a set of Rosary beads from the Argentine cleric, whose passing has plunged the Catholic world into sadness.

He was in The Vatican with colleagues from Narrative Four, who locally are based at O’Connell Street in the city.

They were there to work with youth at the Jubilee of the World of Communication Conference.

Here, Narrative Four led a storytelling workshop with 130 people.

They did not expect a private audience with His Holiness.

“We only got the invite the night before. We arrived in St Peter’s Square as dawn was breaking and were led to an inner room with 60 0ther people. He spoke to us for five minutes then we got a chance to meet him,” James recalled.

In their brief conversation, James mentioned he was from Limerick in Ireland, causing the pontiff to smile, and bless him.

James did admit the Pope appeared “very frail”, and was saddened by his passing.

“Pope Francis’s humanity will be his legacy. He was the people’s Pope,” he concluded.