Reflection on the Solemnity of St Patrick and the Thirteenth Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis
Dr Chris Cotter, Director of Mission and Pastoral Life, reflects on the “deep awareness of identity and purpose” of two prophetic Christian leaders; Pope Francis, who led the reimagining of the global church (March 2013 to April 2025) and St Patrick, whose legacy resonates in our daily life, 1600 years since he first went to Ireland.
By Dr Chris Cotter
I was educated by the Christian Brothers, sometimes known as the ‘Irish’ Brothers. I remember a school assembly on a St Patrick’s Day in the late 1970s. Brother Patrick O’Malley led prayer and gave a short talk on St Patrick. The only part of the prayer and talk I remember is this: that in the 1960s the local bishop had turned up at our school on St Patrick’s Day and sent all students home to celebrate this great feast day. I don’t think I was the only boy at the assembly who was hoping Brother O’Malley would suddenly send us all home to celebrate St Patrick! Alas, it wasn’t to be, and we trudged off to class, wondering if we had been born in the wrong decade.
This week also marks the sixteenth anniversary of the late Cardinal Jorge Bergolio’s election to the office of the Bishop of Rome. There are some interesting parallels between St Patrick and Pope Francis. One of the things that marked Pope Francis’ pontificate was advocacy for migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and people who have been trafficked. Notably, the strong concern for migrants, refugees and trafficked people has continued under Pope Leo XIV.
We don’t know a lot about St Patrick, and what we do know comes mostly from two documents attributed to him. In his Confessions, we are introduced to the young man ‘Patrick’, from a land that we now call England. Patrick is captured by pirates and sold into slavery or ‘trafficked’. He ends up in Ireland herding sheep. Patrick reports that this servitude was important for him as he got to know and understand himself and to become a Christian. He also came to know the situation in Ireland. After six years, he escaped and returned to his family. Soon, a sense of destiny grew within Patrick; he came to understand that his future was to be an apostle to the people of Ireland. This “servant boy” was called to go and “walk amongst” the people in a land where he was once enslaved.
Pope Francis also had this same sense of manifest destiny. In his Apostolic Exhortation, (Evangeli Gaudium) The Joy of the Gospel, Francis wrote:
"My mission of being in the heart of the people is not just a part of my life or a badge I can take off; it is not an “extra” or just another moment in life. Instead, it is something I cannot uproot from my being without destroying my very self. I am a mission on this earth; that is the reason why I am here in this world." (par 273).
The deep awareness of identity and purpose, of being called and sent to be a missionary disciple was there in Francis, just as it was in Patrick.
Pope Francis regularly urged the faithful to co-responsibility and collaboration in the mission. He emphasised the fact that all were welcome, all have gifts to offer, and all have a part to play in sharing the good news of God’s love with the whole of creation. Despite the popular image of St Patrick as single-handedly Christianising the whole of Ireland, it is certain that he had collaborators and followers.
In recent years, the figure of St Brigid has emerged as an important figure in the development of Christianity in Ireland. It seems that she saw herself as a fellow missionary of St Patrick. In the readings for the solemnity, we observe collaboration in ministry. In the Gospel, our Lord sends the seventy-two out in pairs, and Paul and Barnabas continue their ministry among the pagans in Acts. Finally, Jesus reminds us to rejoice, not because of our great deeds or great collaborative efforts, but because our “names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).
Happy St Patrick’s Day!
This reflection was originally published in March 2023 in the 55th edition of Sandpiper e-News. It has been updated and modified for this 2026 edition.