Irish ‘Red Nuns’ gather for funeral of Pope Francis

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

In a quiet recess carved out of the otherwise bustling northside of Dublin City, a group of “Red Nuns” gathered to solemnly watch the funeral of Pope Francis.

The late pontiff’s funeral was broadcast around the world and into homes and places of worship across Ireland on Saturday – including Saint Alphonsus’ Monastery in Drumcondra.

There, the Redemptoristine Nuns – known as ‘Red Nuns’ due to the colour of their habits – gathered in a small, understated room of the monastery to watch a livestream of the funeral mass and procession.

Thirteen of the order’s 16 nuns were present, gathered on chairs around a projector and a small set of speakers.

A contemplative order, the nuns say their life is “enclosed” which means they remain within the grounds of monastery – while holding the outer world in their hearts through prayer.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Sister Gabrielle said Pope Francis “brought alive the Gospel”.

“We have great admiration for him because he brought alive the gospel in so many ways, the simplicity of the gospel, the authenticity of the gospel – for the poor and the marginalised.

“And we are all sinners, we’re on the journey together and that great vision of oneness has touched me profoundly anyway.”

She added: “He certainly has challenged the entire world and – we saw there today so many leaders – that he’s tried to bring peace and respect for each person and the dignity of each person to be respected and upheld.”

She said the inclusion of poor and marginalised people in the proceedings illustrates his key message: “To embrace us all in the one embrace of love of God.”

Speaking about the Redemptoriste Nuns, Sr Gabrielle said the order was made up of various nationalities.

She said: “We’re situated here in Drumcondra and we’re actually celebrating 25 years in this present monastery and we had been in the previous monastery since 1859, when we came to Ireland from Bruge.

“We’re celebrating 300 years of revelation of our order so it’s a very momentous time at this particular time here in our community.”

The sisters of the Red Nuns come from around Ireland, England, Scotland, Europe, Germany, the US and Asia.

Sr Gabrielle said: “We’re 16 sisters in community from various nationalities which is a wonderful privilege really to have the richness of all the nations gathered here in this very small space, living in harmony and respecting each other as Pope Francis has called us to do so many times in his outreach to the world.”