Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has told the Dáil he was "deeply privileged and deeply moved" to have been present at the funeral of Pope John Paul II last week.
During tributes to the late pontiff this evening, Mr Kenny said that last Friday, world leaders had gathered in Rome "to praise and to bury a poet, actor, mystic, jet-setter, philosopher, anti-war campaigner, human rights activist and evangelist".
Mr Kenny noted the late Pope's university friends once pinned a note to his desk reading 'Apprentice Saint' and said that the wish of some that he be canonised may yet be granted.
"I was deeply privileged - and deeply moved - to be present at the funeral of Pope John Paul II, history's most public, spiritual leader who brought the Gospel, not just to the furthest edges of Catholicism and Christendom, but to the birthplace of Buddhism and Islam, Hinduism and Judaism, to the heartland of secularism and materialism, even to the bastion of Communism itself.
"For 40 years, going head-to-head with the Stalinists, for what he called 'the soul of Poland'."
Mr Kenny said John Paul II was "charismatic and controversial".
"But even those who rejected his conservatism might praise his authenticity. Much has been said, and will be said, about the exterior of his 26-year pontificate, which could yet be one of the most consequential: his advocacy of the poor, his commitment to peace, his challenge to Communism and secularism, his public promotion of spirituality in countries where religion was punishable. Even the 'rehabilitation' of Galileo."
The Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte said many would acknowledge on calm reflection that Pope John Paul II's "unbending stance" on an issue such as contraception "contributed little to the struggle against Aids and HIV in Africa".
"The role of women was never enhanced in John Paul's church. The institution of the Church stumbled many times before finally beginning to come to terms (if it has) with the issue of sex abuse," Mr Rabbitte said.
"Pope John Paul II was an authoritarian figure whose very convictions left him unable to tolerate dissent, which meant that he was unable to respond to the movement for Justice in South America and led to the stiffling of liberational theology."
Mr Rabbitte said he wished to place on the record of the House his sympathy and regret and that of his party on the death of Pope John Paul II.
"His death marks the end of a truly remarkable Leader of not just the Catholic Church, but a most influential figure in world affairs.
"For more than a quarter of a century he was not just the dominant figure in the religious life of the world's Catholics but was also played a highly influential role in world affairs generally."
"Like other members of the House, I was glad to have had the privilege of meeting him some years ago."