At the funeral Mass in Dublin's Pro Cathedral, the principal celebrant, Fr Leonard Maloney SJ revealed that the much-loved broadcaster was often seen at weekday or Sunday Mass even in the latter stages of his cancer.

According to ‘Guns & Rosaries’ producer, “Fr Patrick Peyton was involved in a covert campaign, funded by CIA dollars, to combat leftist political movements in Latin America in the early 1960s.”

2017 Martin Buber Award recognises missionary’s work, through the PREDA Foundation, helping children and women targeted by paedophiles and sex traffickers.

Fr Greg Boyle, who is credited with having reduced gangland deaths in Los Angeles, joins President John F. Kennedy, Dorothy Day and Martin Sheen, as a recipient of Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal.