Born in 2015

Ireland became the first country in the world to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote, with 62% saying yes. The scenes of celebration in Dublin Castle and across the country were among the most joyful in the state's history. It was a moment of profound social transformation — the Ireland of de Valera and the dominance of the Church had given way to something new and much more pluralistic.

Pope Francis would need to visit a very different country from the one John Paul II had addressed in 1979.