Archbishop Noel Treanor’s funeral takes place in Belfast

He said the “capacity for strong bonds of friendship that he shared with so many people, also beyond the confines of kinship, was born in the family home”.

“He clearly loved his parents and his brother and sister, John and Mary, their spouses, Margaret and Jim – and their children and their children’s children and the many cousins with whom he remained close throughout his life.”

Archbishop Treanor served as chair of the board of governors at St Mary’s University College in Belfast for more than 14 years.

The congregation was also told about “his deep commitment to the European project”, through his diplomatic role of apostolic nuncio to the European Union and his “teasing out, in very sophisticated ways, the essential link between faith and culture”.