Introduction. In his official reply to the welcome from the Government of the Irish Free State, Cardinal Lorenzo Lauri assured the Irish people of the special regard that Pope Pius XI had for the Catholics of Ireland. He expressed his great hope for the success of the 31st Eucharistic Congress and expressed his joy at the dramatic scenes of excitement and piety that greeted him as he stepped off his boat at Dún Laoghaire Harbour the previous afternoon. This extract gives clear illustration of the intimate bonds that connected the Catholics of Ireland with the Holy See and with the wider Catholic world.

Source. The Irish Times, 22 June 1932.

… it is impossible for me to express in words the deep and sweet emotion which stills my soul, as I, contemplate this magnificent vision before me, this immense throng of sons and daughters, and the descendants of sons and daughters of this Island, so justly renowned, this noble gathering of the admired of Ireland, comprising so many distinguished members of the Sacred College of Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, and other prominent personages come from all parts of the world to this Ireland of Apostles and of martyrs of Love, to pay a tribute of homage and of devotion to Jesus Christ, our Eucharistic King. And this emotion increases and deepens as I realise that the presence of this multitude of devout pilgrims is but the fulfilment of the expectation of the Holy Father, who, certain of the imposing manifestations of faith and love which Ireland was about to give (because Ireland has always given) desires to participate in this Eucharistic Congress by sending a Papal Legate, in which His Holiness has done by honouring my poor self. So I am in your midst with this noble office, with this most privileged duty to perform, to represent the Pope, to bring to you his greetings and his blessings, to bring to you—I cannot express it better than to say—to bring to you all of his great heart, beating always with the greatest love for Ireland, which has never been second to any country in its love and devotion to the Vicar of Christ. During these days the Holy Father, through the presence of his Legate, wishes to be in your midst, to live with you, to pray with you.

Tomás O’Riordan