Pope's Ireland visit came at difficult time, says Varadkar

Pope Francis meets former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Dublin Castle in 2018

Pope Francis's visit to Ireland in 2018 came at a time when relationships with the Catholic Church were "quite difficult", former Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar has said.

It was to be the first papal visit to Ireland for 39 years - Mr Varadkar said he was initially "apprehensive" ahead of a meeting with the late pontiff.

"We had just voted to legalise abortion earlier that year, and we'd brought in marriage equality a few years before that," Mr Varadkar said.

"We had a number of years where we were dealing with a number of scandals in relation to child abuse and institutions in relation to mother and baby homes."

However, Mr Varadkar said that he found Pope Francis' approach to be "pastoral first and doctrine second".

During the visit, Pope Francis also met with Mr Varadkar's partner, Matthew Barrett.

"We were one of the first gay head of government couples to meet him and he was very happy to do that," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"I didn't really delve too much into LGBT issues, to be honest; there wasn't much time on the agenda.

"But, in the time after, he made some very positive and very welcome statements, and he spoke out against the criminalisation of gay and lesbian people around the world."

'Respect human dignity'

"He said: 'We needed to respect human dignity and basic rights and standards for all people, including people who are gay or lesbian or trans, Mr Varadkar'," the former taoiseach added.

"It was significant that he said trans men and women could be godparents."

He praised Pope Francis for speaking publicly on behalf of migrants, adding that he found they had much in common.

"In that general approach of respecting individuals dignity and personal rights, on the issue of climate and on the issue of how we treat migrants and refugees, we would have been very aligned," Mr Varadkar said.

However, he said they "didn't agree on everything".

"He was very clear on his beliefs on the sanctity of life. While we agreed on being opposed to the death penalty, we had a very different position on abortion."

Pope had 'unfinished business'

Irish President Michael D Higgins thanked the late pontiff on behalf of the people of Ireland

On Tuesday, the Irish president said Pope Francis had "unfinished business" and that he hopes the next pope will build on the steps he was able to take during his tenure.

Michael D Higgins will be among world leaders and dignitaries to attend the funeral of Pope Francis this weekend, along with his wife, Sabina.

After signing a book of condolences in Dublin, President Higgins said that, on behalf of the people of Ireland, he thanked Pope Francis for his work and his example on "embracing the most important issues".

The Irish president described Pope Francis's trip to Ireland in August 2018 as a "very warm visit".