If he apologises to the people of Ireland for the crimes his clergy committed....it will be welcomed and his visit will go a small way to redress the past. However, I suspect he will not give an unqualified apology, nor will he meet with any of those who were so badly abused by priests and nuns and so I think it will be a wasted opportunity for the Catholic Church to demonstrate that it is prepared to change. It will never change, it is incapable of changing and until the numbers who follow this faith drop to alarmingly low levels the heirarchy will never pay heed to the calls by the laity. Ireland has had a seismic change in attitude over the past few years....the young have lost their faith because of the horrendous revelations of abuse by both priests (paedophile) and nuns(physical and mental cruelty). Ireland, which was the most Catholic country in the world until recently now has some of the most progressive laws. Divorce, Same-sex marriage, reform of Abortion law all of these would have been unthinkable only a handful of years ago....they also have a gay man who is of Indian heritage and is in a same sex marriage as Prime Minister! None of this change would have come about had it not been for the scandals and the ensuing disillusionment in the clergy. The Catholic Church has at last lost its hold over the Irish State and we must all be grateful for that.