“It was the honour of a lifetime”

Athlone Deacon who met Pope Francis tells of shock at his passing

An Athlone man who played a key role at the historic World Meeting of Families Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in the Phoenix Park in 2018 has this week spoken of his “great shock and sadness” at the passing of the Argentinian pontiff.

“Even though everyone knew Pope Francis was extremely ill, his passing still came as a great shock,” said Tony Larkin. “It was almost as if he had the whole thing planned as he passed to his eternal reward the day after he had given the world his Easter blessing.”

Just eight months after he was ordained a deacon, Tony Larkin found himself in the unique position of sitting alongside Pope Francis and assisting him in various ways during the Phoenix Park Mass when he was selected for the key role of 'deacon of the chair'.

“It was the honour of a lifetime and something I will treasure forever,” said the Coláiste Chiaráin chaplain this week, even though he admits he had “no clue” what he would be doing at the Mass when the Bishop of Elphin, Kevin Doran, sent a message to say that a deacon from the diocese would be required to participate at the Dublin event.

“I was ready for anything, to be honest, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be sitting beside Pope Francis and assisting him during the Mass,” said Tony. The other deacons, altar servers and others involved in the Mass were also given the unique privilege of a brief one-to-one meeting with Pope Francis at the conclusion of the Phoenix Park ceremony. “I had studied in Rome so I was able to say a few brief words to him in Italian, and he had such a special aura around him that I will never forget.”

Tony Larkin was one of a number of people from Athlone who assisted at the World Meeting of Families Mass in the Phoenix Park , and he says it was “a once-in-a-lifetime privilege” for everyone who was there. “I was just ordained and it was a most beautiful and spiritual gift for me to receive,” he says.

When he became aware of the key role he was due undertake at the Mass, Tony Larkin recalled how he gave his wife, Jean, “a quick call” to let her know, but he says the rest of his family and his parishioners in Ss Peter and Paul's parish in Athlone “were just blown away” when they spotted him on TV sitting beside Pope Francis and assisting him during the ceremony. “They couldn't believe it,” he says, adding that he could scarcely believe it himself!

As the world mourns the passing of Pope Francis, Tony Larkin says his lasting legacy will be the way he “opened up the papacy to the world” and the way in which he “embodied humility, not just in his words, but by his actions” including driving a Fiat car and refusing to live in the Papal Apartments.

The Athlone deacon said Pope Francis “did not shy away” from the difficult issues facing the Catholic Church, including the issue of clerical abuse which had been raised on numerous occasions during his brief visit to Ireland in 2018. “He apologised repeatedly, and at every opportunity during his visit to Ireland, and throughout his time as Pope, to those who had been impacted by the horrendous abuses,” said Tony Larkin.