Editing Mary Robinson (section)

=== Church and religion ===
[[File:Amnesty International Ireland Conference, Cork, February 1996 (01) (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Robinson at the Amnesty International Ireland Conference, February 1996]]

To the surprise of her critics, who had seen her as embodying liberalism that the Catholic Church disapproved of, she had a close working relationship with the Church. She visited Irish nuns and priests abroad regularly, and became the first President to host an Áras reception for the [[Congregation of Christian Brothers|Christian Brothers]]. When on a working trip to Rome, she requested, and was granted, an audience with [[Pope John Paul II]]. Her outfit was condemned by a young priest, Fr [[David O'Hanlon (priest)|David O'Hanlon]], for supposedly breaking Vatican dress codes. The Vatican contradicted O'Hanlon, pointing out that the dress codes had been changed early in John Paul's pontificate – an analysis echoed by Ireland's Catholic Bishops, who distanced themselves from Fr O'Hanlon's comments.<ref name="quote2" />