I suppose it would help to start with a little background (especially for those readers outside Ireland).
At the end of August, Dublin will host the World Meeting of Families (WMOF), an event hosted by the Catholic Church in different cities around the world and which takes place every three years. At the last one, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2015, Dublin was nominated as the host city for 2018. To mark the event, Pope Francis will arrive in Ireland on Saturday, August 25 and on the following day, he will be the presiding celebrant at the closing Mass of WMOF in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. So far, so good!
There are 500,000 tickets (all free) for the final Mass. As a national event, with many thousands of foreign visitors, it is no surprise that there would be a huge demand for these tickets. Many people, old and young, wish to be there. Now, in Ireland, we are all used to protests of every hue and colour; whether it is at visitors representing other countries, political protests, or those advocating on behalf of (or against) one cause of another. It is part and parcel of life. So, no surprise that there is a group that wishes to focus a protest on the Pope’s visit and a Catholic event of this size.
They call the protest, “Say nope to the Pope!” I call them “The dopes who say nope to the Pope!”
But this isn’t because the Dopes are protesting against something I support. You see, this group, not content with making its protest, has decided on a method of protest that is nasty. I respect those who protest by gathering with like-minded people, putting up banners and posters, having raucous assemblies and so forth, all of this is fine. Because, and thank God, we live in a democracy. This isn’t North Korea. We can have our own view, it can be different to that of others, it can challenge the norms; most of all, we can assemble, we can gather, and we have the right of free speech. Not alone is all of this the way in which a democracy behaves, but we rightly go so far as having the civil authorities protect such groups when they protest – even if the protectors find nothing in common with the protestors! Would that the Dopes might demonstrate this respect.
When Beatrice Evelyn Hall published her book in 1906 entitled, The Friends of Voltaire, she characterised Voltaire’s attitude on free speech as, “I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it” (and no, Voltaire did not actually use these words, notwithstanding they are often attributed to him). That, you see, is free speech. And in my view, it is something that we must cherish and support.
But back to the Dopes and their nastiness. You can imagine my surprise to find that their form of protest is to intervene in the rights of others, and actively seek to prevent them from exercising their right to gather (in this case, for the final Mass of WMOF). For them, not the inconvenience of assembling, vocalising their opposition, or having their posters. No! Their campaign has been to encourage people to apply for tranches of the (free) tickets for the Mass with the express intention of not attending! And so, the family, or the couple, or the group, that will happily respect the right of others not to attend or support the Pope, is not to be shown the same respect. The Dopes want to prevent others from doing what they wish to do – in this case, going to the Phoenix Park on the last Sunday of August and being at the Mass.
There is another word for this; it has nothing to do with free speech, and nothing whatsoever to do with democracy. It is called fascism. Time to call a spade, a spade. I choose the word carefully. The word means, “extreme authoritarian, oppressive, or intolerant views or practices.” If the shoe fits – right?
To be sure, I could point to Pope Francis, about his compassion for, and identification with, the poor, the refugee, and the abandoned. 
About how he eschews the trappings of high Church office, of his refusal to pass judgment on others such as when he was challenged in July 2013 by a reporter on a flight back from Brazil about a so-called, “gay lobby” in the Vatican, to which he responded, “who am I to judge?” The world would be a better place if some of those lessons could be taken on board by those who lead us in many different spheres. But his is often a lonely voice (even in the Church!). And with those thoughts in mind, I could question the Dopes as to what it is about Pope Francis that they believe he and his visit should be the target of their nastiness?
But I digress. I am happy, and wish, to live in an Ireland of many different views and opinions. I have no problem with the fact that people, even people very close to me, have very different views and opinions on matters that are important to me. Tolerance is important to me.
I know that I do not want an Ireland of the Dopes, an Ireland which, if they had their way, would tell us all what to think, what to believe, what to do, and how to behave. I want no part of that, and what’s more, I’m fairly sure that most of us on this small island in the north Atlantic and much further afield, would be of a similar view.
The Dopes tell us that they have secured 20,000 tickets. I don’t know if they have and to be honest, I am hugely doubtful about their claims. The media has reported on them, on and off, since they first made their presence known. And the same media has reported their claims of the 20,000 tickets but without any indication that even the smallest attempt has been made to validate the claims. (And I thought that one of the roles of good journalists was to verify – but perhaps only if it suits.)
I could use other words to describe the Dopes. But why stoop to their level? For now, I’m happy to describe them as the Dopes who say nope to the Pope. Although there were 500,000 tickets available, they are all gone now, so there will be many disappointed at not being able to attend. I truly hope that not one of those who cannot attend has been prevented from doing so by the actions of the Dopes. Regrettably, I fear that, however small the number, there will be a few.
As an eternal optimist, and while feeling sorry for those who will not be in the Phoenix Park, I take a certain comfort in the fact that, when that particular Sunday afternoon comes about, and there are crowds as far as the eye can see, the Dopes will see that their nasty little effort at protest has failed. Because that level of nastiness doesn’t win. I know quite a few who do not feel inclined to go the Phoenix Park at the end of August, who struggle with the many failures of the Church, with the inconsistencies, and the injustices. And I empathise with them and frequently agree with them. But even with their views, and experiences, they don’t behave like the Dopes. They understand that not everyone is of the same view as them and they are tolerant people.
You see, for all their cleverness at putting together a few rhyming words, the Dopes are all, well, just dopes. They soon will be yesterday’s news, and their brand of fascism will never catch on. And thank God for it. And just as, forty years on, people here still talk about the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979, so too, in forty years, will people speak of the visit of Pope Francis in 2018. And while I am unlikely to be here to check this, I don’t think that people will remember the Dopes!