THE President, Mrs Robinson, was received by Pope John Paul II at a private audience in the Vatican on Saturday morning during which the two leaders discussed a wide range of issues, including the Northern Ireland peace process, socio economic change in modem Ireland, developing world issues and Rwanda.
Wearing a sprig of mimosa to mark International Women's Day, President Robinson met the Pope on the threshold of the Pontifical Library inside the Vatican's Apostolic Palace.
Smiling warmly, the President shook hands with the Pope and said: "It is a great honour and a great pleasure to be meeting you."
"You are welcome," replied the Pope. The two leaders then retired into the library for a half hour, one to one meeting.
As the Pope sat down at his desk at the beginning of the audience, the atmosphere seemed cordial, with the Pope telling President Robinson how well he recalled his pastoral visit to Ireland in 1979.
Speaking to reporters after what was her first audience with the Pope - and the first Irish presidential audience in the Vatican since former president Dr Patrick Hillery was received in October 1989 - President Robinson said that issues such as divorce, the divorce referendum or abortion had not come up in her discussions either with the Pope, or at a subsequent meeting with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.
"I presume that both the Pope and the Secretary of State would know my constitutional position and that I would not be in a position to comment on constitutional issues," Mrs Robinson said afterwards.
The President, however, emphasised the frank nature of her audience with the Pope. "It was really a very good discussion... I found that we were talking to each other in a very open way and from both points of view, I think, we found it a fruitful and interesting discussion. We were on the same wavelength on many issues...
"Obviously, I very much welcomed the opportunity to have a private audience with his Holiness and I began by conveying to him the warm good wishes of the people of Ireland. .. His Holiness spoke about the importance of Ireland to the church, and the strong links between Ireland and the church... I also expressed my pleasure that I was visiting him on International Women's Day."
Asked if the audience had touched on the secularisation of evolving modern Ireland, the President replied: "The Pope expressed not exactly a concern but... he did say how important Ireland was to the church, while the Secretary of State spoke about the importance of spirituality and that in a modern, more materialist society there was a danger that the commitment to spirituality would be diminished."
Inevitably, the audience also focused on Northern Ireland, with the President outlining the current situation in the peace process.
"The Pope asked if the political discussions had ended and I told him that, no, they had been adjourned. .. I felt it was appropriate to give him an account of the current situation and of the great yearning for peace in Ireland and also that his speech in Drogheda in 1979 had been very important in pleading for an end to violence.
Although the President and the Pope were on the "same wavelength" when their discussion turned to developing world issues, the President raised the controversial issue of the alleged involvement of Catholic priests (and in some cases bishops) in the genocidal killings in Rwanda in 1994.
Referring to her visit to Rwanda last week to attend the Pan African Women's Congress, Mrs Robinson said: "I raised with him one concern that has been raised with me on each of my three visits to Rwanda and wondered if it would be possible for His Holiness or the church authorities to try to be helpful on it, and that is that there is still great concern that some of the main perpetrators of the genocidal killing are outside Rwanda and have not been brought before either the International Criminal Tribunal or before the domestic courts."
In a brief statement after the audience, the Vatican's senior spokesman, Dr Joaquin Navarro Valls, said: "The discussion. .. (focused) on the general situation in Ireland at this moment in time, both social and economic, with special reference to the defence and promotion of the spiritual values of the country, and problems of life, the family and the education of young people. The great contribution that women can make towards the material and spiritual promotion of people was also underlined.
"As for international questions, the position of Ireland in Europe and in the international arena was discussed with special attention to the Northern Ireland peace process."
After the audience, the President presented the Pope with a wooden bowl, made by the monks of Glenstal Abbey, Limerick, while the Pope presented papal medals and rosary beads to the President's entourage.
After the audience, the President went straight into a brief meeting with Secretary of State Sodano before going on to the Irish Embassy to the Holy See for a luncheon.
Before returning home to Dublin yesterday evening, the President visited the Irish College, the Little Sisters of the Company of Mary, the Irish Dominican church, San Clemente, and the Irish Franciscan College, St Isidore's.