Gerry's Blog - Blog 5, Day 25

by **Jill Havern** 23.01.16 18:46

Day 25 - 28/05/2007

Monday

Confirmation arrived this evening that we are to attend the Vatican and a service with The Pope. It is likely we will be seated in the front row and may have an opportunity to speak with the Holy Father and ask for prayers for Madeleine. This is a hugely important visit both personally, for Kate and I, but also for the wider campaign to publicise Madeleine’s disappearance. The trip has been facilitated through Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor and we will be receiving assistance from the British Embassy whilst in Rome. On this occasion because of the short notice and the relatively early time of the service we have accepted the kind offer of the use of Sir Philip Green’s personal jet, which will help get us home quickly after our Papal visit to see the twins before their bedtime. We will be accompanied by a small group of media who are still with us in Praia da Luz and, as usual all the material will be available to all the British press and broadcasters equally. For all trips we are assessing whether commercial flights can get us to our destination and back to Portugal quickly. This will NOT be a Tour- it is a series of very brief visits with the specific aim of raising awareness and we aim to get back here as quickly as possible.

We have decided that for the majority of trips it will not be practicable, or fair, to take Sean and Amelie with us. They have an established routine which we do not want to disrupt and will be looked after by very close family. Tonight for the first time they have gone to sleep in their own single beds, rather than cots, now that another two of our family have gone home. We were planning to turn their cots at home into beds after our 1 week holiday but obviously this has been delayed with Madeleine’s abduction. We have been in Praia da Luz for over 4 weeks and Sean and Amelie’s development from toddlers to little boy and girl continues. Madeleine will really notice the difference when she sees them!

Gerry's Blog - Blog 5, Day 25 Inflatable_171252a

Gerry's Blog - Blog 5, Day 25 Inflatable_171252a

Some of you may have seen on the news the huge inflatable billboard which has travelled all the way from the West of Scotland to Portugal which will be used near busy roads/motorways to keep Madeleine’s disappearance high profile. We had a brief chat with Chris and Les, who drove almost non-stop from Glasgow to get here. The extraordinary length ordinary people are going to help us is truly overwhelming. We thank everyone for their efforts, no matter how small, and we know this will make a difference in our search for Madeleine.

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Related links:

http://truthformadeleine.com/2008/07/the-inflatable-billboard-the-true-story/

http://fakedabduction.com/2010/06/madeleine-finders-sudden-death-and-burial-in-skipton/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1552947/The-day-Madeleine-was-too-excited-to-cry.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6698215.stm

http://themaddiecasefiles.com/topic2266.html

http://www.anorak.co.uk/173672/madeleine-mccann/madeleine-mccann-blown-out-of-all-proportion.html/

http://miscarriageofjustice.co/index.php?topic=1636.80;wap2

https://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t4097-giant-inflatable-billboard

by Verdi 23.01.16 20:43

This man is truly unbelievable - such arrogance never before seen emanating from a nobody. Who the heck does he think he is, the President of the US of A? Doesn't he realize that everything (almost) he says is immortalized thanks to the internet?

I challenge anyone to explain how their European/North African celebrity tour benefited Madeleine, what were they hoping to achieve by being front row guests of honour at the Vatican before his PayPalness. How can an audience with and prayers bestowed by the Pope assist Madeleine or a 'search campaign'? How can diplomatic assistance help Madeleine or a 'search campaign'? IF Madeleine was abducted and still alive and findable, in reality she could be anywhere in the world, why did they think their particular chosen grand tour would be anymore beneficial to finding their child? At the time did they believe that whoever abducted Madeleine would be parading her around to streets, her image having been plastered across the oceans?

Despite what they think they are not clever, they have handled their child's fate very badly - anyone that's taken an interest in the case should be able to see that simple fact clearly - perhaps they don't care just as long as they avoid prosecution. I'm guessing the global campaign was never about Madeleine, it's always been the Kate and Gerry Show. It must be the most elaborate defence strategy ever known to mankind - who would dare close in on this pair of miscreants?

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/01/cardinal-cormac-murphy-oconnor-memoirs-censored-by-church

Nice man, a fine upstanding citizen - a credit to the Catholic church. I don't think!

by Liz Eagles 24.01.16 6:05

Get'emGonçalo wrote:
Day 25 - 28/05/2007
Monday
Confirmation arrived this evening that we are to attend the Vatican and a service with The Pope. It is likely we will be seated in the front row and may have an opportunity to speak with the Holy Father and ask for prayers for Madeleine. This is a hugely important visit both personally, for Kate and I, but also for the wider campaign to publicise Madeleine’s disappearance. The trip has been facilitated through Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor and we will be receiving assistance from the British Embassy whilst in Rome. On this occasion because of the short notice and the relatively early time of the service we have accepted the kind offer of the use of Sir Philip Green’s personal jet, which will help get us home quickly after our Papal visit to see the twins before their bedtime. We will be accompanied by a small group of media who are still with us in Praia da Luz and, as usual all the material will be available to all the British press and broadcasters equally. For all trips we are assessing whether commercial flights can get us to our destination and back to Portugal quickly. This will NOT be a Tour- it is a series of very brief visits with the specific aim of raising awareness and we aim to get back here as quickly as possible.

We have decided that for the majority of trips it will not be practicable, or fair, to take Sean and Amelie with us. They have an established routine which we do not want to disrupt and will be looked after by very close family. Tonight for the first time they have gone to sleep in their own single beds, rather than cots, now that another two of our family have gone home. We were planning to turn their cots at home into beds after our 1 week holiday but obviously this has been delayed with Madeleine’s abduction. We have been in Praia da Luz for over 4 weeks and Sean and Amelie’s development from toddlers to little boy and girl continues. Madeleine will really notice the difference when she sees them!

Some of you may have seen on the news the huge inflatable billboard which has travelled all the way from the West of Scotland to Portugal which will be used near busy roads/motorways to keep Madeleine’s disappearance high profile. We had a brief chat with Chris and Les, who drove almost non-stop from Glasgow to get here. The extraordinary length ordinary people are going to help us is truly overwhelming. We thank everyone for their efforts, no matter how small, and we know this will make a difference in our search for Madeleine.

-------

Related links:

http://truthformadeleine.com/2008/07/the-inflatable-billboard-the-true-story/

http://fakedabduction.com/2010/06/madeleine-finders-sudden-death-and-burial-in-skipton/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1552947/The-day-Madeleine-was-too-excited-to-cry.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6698215.stm

http://themaddiecasefiles.com/topic2266.html

http://www.anorak.co.uk/173672/madeleine-mccann/madeleine-mccann-blown-out-of-all-proportion.html/

http://miscarriageofjustice.co/index.php?topic=1636.80;wap2

https://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t4097-giant-inflatable-billboard

How much celeb style name-dropping can the father of a missing/abducted/dead/alive child do?

I happen to think the sort of rustic, home-spun website set-up was a masterpiece, when all the time MI5 and UK's finest were all on the case.

by Liz Eagles 25.01.16 11:18

Day 27 - 30/05/2007

Wednesday

Today has gone as well as we could possibly imagine.
We woke around 7.15am and got ourselves ready. There was a lovely continental breakfast prepared but both Kate and I ate very little due to nerves. We left the Embassy just after 9.00am and stopped en route to the Vatican, at Piazza Pia for a photo opportunity with St Peters in the distance. I made a very short statement regarding our forthcoming visit and expressed my gratitude to Francis Campbell, the British Ambassador to the Vatican, and his staff for making us feel as if we were part of their family.

We arrived in plenty of time for the Papal audience and were delighted to find we were seated in the ‘Prima Fila’- the first row. Clarence, Francis and Monsingneur Charlie Burns, a colourful Glaswegian who teaches at the seminary and looks after the Ambassador’s spiritual well being were seated immediately behind us. It was extremely sunny and I have to admit that Kate and I were struggling somewhat with the heat in our dark suits but Francis rescued us with an umbrella and some water and following that some heavy cloud rolled in, cooling us down.

The atmosphere in St Peter’s square was almost carnival like with up to 35,000 people there to see the Pope. He did not disappoint, driving slowly around the crowd in his open jeep, waving cheerfully. We were sombre in contrast given that we were there to ask Benedict to pray for Madeleine, although I am sure others were also there to get blessings for their loved ones. After this the Pontiff took his seat in front of approximately 30 cardinals, bishops and priests. One of the priests, Father Daniel Gallagher from the US, came up to us before the service and said some very kind words; that he was praying and everyone was praying for Madeleine daily.

The service started with a series of addresses from priests representing the various French, German, Italian, English, Spanish and Polish speaking congregations present. Each parish represented was mentioned and various bands, mainly German, played short pieces and a few choirs sang a verse and the large Polish contingent priests seated behind us wearing large yellow scarves tied like ribbons around theirs necks sang 3 or 4! At the end of this preamble the priest stated that the Pope was happy to tell us he was praying for the congregation, our families, our children and those who were suffering. These words seemed so poignant in the light of Madeleine’s abduction and naturally both Kate and I were, naturally, very emotional. The Pope’s actual address seemed to pass in a blur and I am looking forward to reading the actual transcript as I can remember very little of the actual words.

Following the completion of the Papal address in the different languages, Benedict individually greeted the other clergy on the dias. During this period Father Gallagher presented us with a small gift to remind us that he would pray daily for Madeleine and a cardinal also expressed similar sentiments. The Pope took approximately 20 minutes to meet other people in the Prima Fila before reaching us. It felt as if time stood still for a moment when the Pope looked into our faces and there was almost instant recognition and a change in his expression. He said he would pray for us, our family and Madeleine. Kate passed him a photograph of Madeleine and he blessed this and would pray for her safe returning. The meeting was more personal than we could have imagined given the number of people there and will help us sustain our hope and determination to find Madeleine.

The press conference followed shortly afterwards and was very well attended. We will give more details tomorrow as we are very tired following our visit and hope to get an early night before planning our next trip.

Gerry's Blog - Blog 5, Day 25

Gerry's Blog - Blog 5, Day 25

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