Glowing tributes paid by Longfordians to 'adored' and admired Pope Francis following his death

Warm tributes have been paid by Longford people to Pope Francis who has been described as a man who was adored and admired and 'who touched the hearts of people'.

The death of the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church was announced this morning (Monday).

Henry Rodgers was a student in St Mel's College in Longford and has lived in Rome for 37 years, said the Irish community in the Italian capital are greatly saddened.

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The lecturer, who teaches English at Sapienza University, is part of a group of university lecturers in Italy, some of whom are Irish, who have been attempting to get equal employment pay and conditions.

Mr Rodgers said Pope's Francis' last public appearance at Easter Sunday mass on St Peter's Square showed his determination and devotion to the people.

"People felt great empathy with him and great admiration.

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"He was very much admired and he touched the hearts of a lot of people.

"He was very spontaneous, down to earth, he was a man of peace and a kind man," he added.

Longford author Vincent Doyle was praised by the Vatican for his passion writing the first book in history on the children of priests and he met Pope Francis more than a decade ago.

He said he was 'grateful' to him for being so 'receptive' and listening to him and opening doors for the children of priests to be recognised.

Mr Doyle (41), who hails from Longford town is the son of Fr JJ Doyle who served in Ardagh and Edgeworthstown throughout the 1980s and 1990s, was invited by the Vatican to be part of a global study into the 'phenomenon'.

Fr Doyle died from lung cancer in 1995.

But it was not until 2011 that Vincent was shocked to discover that Fr Doyle, a priest he knew very well, was his dad.

He realised there was no mechanisms in place to support people in similar situations and in 2012 he established a website - copinginternational.com.

The website was subsequently funded by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.

"Pope Francis was very receptive and he completely knew the struggle and the Vatican paid for the entire trip because we were a charity in our infancy so they hosted us, brought us over and treated us very well," Mr Doyle said. "I met him and his exact words when I was introduced to him were 'Cie cie I know'.

"Then there was a silence and I gave him the letter I had brought and he read the letter and the following week the whole thing was approved so he did not waste any time," Mr Doyle added.

In 2017, the psychotherapist was behind new guidelines entitled 'Principles of Responsibility regarding priests who father children while in ministry' that were established by the Catholic Church in relation to supporting children whose fathers were priests.

In 2014, when he was working on the guidelines Mr Doyle met Pope Francis in Rome and discussed his work.

Vincent's first book 'Our Fathers, A Phenomenon of Children of Catholic Priests and Religious', which was published in 2022.

Vincent previously said the Vatican got a "hold of it and they said it was the first of its kind in history, which was a huge honour".