POPE FRANCIS SENT a special message of condolence for the funeral of Bishop Edward Daly today.
Daly was brought to international attention after he helped victims of the Bloody Sunday shootings on January 30 1972.
He waved a white handkerchief while running to try and get wounded man Jackie Duddy to safety after he was gunned down by British paratroopers.
The 82-year-old passed away on Monday after a short battle with cancer. Today his funeral heard how some 25,000 people ‘streamed through the Cathedral doors since his remains arrived on Monday evening’.
President Michael D Higgins joined the mourners for the service this afternoon along with John Hume and Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
The tribute from Pope Francis stated how he was ”saddened to learn of the death” and how he sent “heartfelt condolences to his family and to the clergy, religious and lay faithful of the Diocese”.
Recalling Bishop Daly’s generous and dedicated episcopal ministry in the service of peace and justice, His Holiness joins you in prayerful thanksgiving for his life and in commending his soul to the merciful love of God Our Father.
‘Passionate struggle against violence’
The Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown spoke about how “it was a privilege to stand at the door of the Cathedral over the last three days and hear stories of invaluable acts of kindness, both great and small.
He showed physical courage on Bloody Sunday and his moral courage was evident in his passionate struggle against violence and injustice from all quarters.
Archbishop Eamon Martin also spoke at the funeral mass:
As I stand here at the very spot in this Cathedral where Bishop Daly ordained me to the priesthood 29 years ago, I’m thinking: if only I could be even half the priest and bishop that he was, I know I’d be serving God well.
Earlier today Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin stated how the iconic image of Bishop Daly “courageously leading the mortally wounded Jackie Duddy to cover during the chaos of Bloody Sunday is forever seared into Irish history”.
“It captured a priest steadfast in his commitment to his people in the teeth of danger and hopelessness.”
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