Tuam vigil to take place at same time as Pope’s Phoenix Park mass this Sunday

A Tuam vigil will be taking place at the same time as the Papal mass in Phoenix Park this Sunday.

The remains of 796 babies and children were discovered at the Mother and Baby Home site early last year. Historian Catherine Corless, who worked tirelessly to uncover the details behind the deaths of those who lived in the Bon Secours home, called the vigil a "statement." Corless also declined an invitation to meet the Pope during his visit to Ireland this week. Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show today, she said that this weekend she planned to "stand with the survivors."

"I did question them: would there be any chance of having a word with the Pope for the survivors of the Tuam home and the other Mother and Baby homes?” “They said no, that nobody would be talking to him."

https://twitter.com/NewstalkFM/status/1032582532590698497 Corless then said she felt a meeting would have been "pointless" and that she would instead be "taking a stand with the babies who were buried in the sewage tank in Tuam." The remains of the infants were discovered last March following extensive research by Corless. She originally published her findings in 2014 stating that hundreds of babies and toddlers were buried at the site. Last year's state inquiry then confirmed that "significant quantities" of human remains had been discovered in the septic tank. Corless confirmed today that a vigil will take place in Tuam this Sunday at the same time the Pope is giving mass in Dublin's Phoenix Park. “We are having a vigil on Sunday at the same time that the Papal mass is on and we are preparing for that," she said.

“In the last year and a half, they are still doddling and there is no response whatsoever from the Church. “I just felt I had to take a stand with the babies on that day.”