Pope Benedict XVI: Letterkenny woman reads at papal funeral

A woman from County Donegal has said she was "humbled and honoured" to read one of the liturgical readings at the Requiem Mass of Pope Benedict XVI.

The former Pope died on Saturday at the age of 95, almost a decade after he stood down because of ill health.

Mary Maguire, who is from Letterkenny, read the second reading at the funeral in St Peter's Square, which was from the First letter of St Peter (1:3-9).

Ms Maguire is part of the Conwal and Leck parish in the Diocese of Raphoe.

She is also heavily involved with the St Vincent De Paul charity in her home town of Letterkenny in the Republic of Ireland.

Benedict's coffin was carried before Pope Francis at the end of the funeral

The reading, which she delivered to thousands gathered in St Peter's Square in Vatican City on Thursday, praised God's mercy.

Ms Maguire said she was contacted by Monsignor Kevin Gillespie of St Eunan's Cathedral in Letterkenny on Monday to ask if she would be interested in presenting the reading at the late pontiff's Requiem Mass.

'Complete and utter honour'

"It was a complete an utter honour to be asked to do it," Ms Maguire told BBC News NI.

"When I was reading it, I just felt joy in my heart at being able to proclaim the word of God in front of such a large congregation.

"I just felt joy, even though it was a sad occasion, because I was the person that was chosen to be here and do the reading."

Ms Maguire says she had no nerves when she addressed the large crowd

Ms Maguire said she would usually get nervous even reading in front of her own congregation, but said she was surprised that she had no nerves whatsoever addressing the large crowd.

"I just kept hoping and praying that I would do our parish, our diocese, and do our country proud," Ms Maguire said.

"I was just honoured and humbled to be there."

The Vatican estimated that about 50,000 mourners gathered for the late Pope's Mass on Thursday.

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Following the service, Pope Benedict XVI's body was returned to St Peter's Basilica for a private service.

Pope Benedict was buried in a crypt beneath St Peter's Basilica that holds the tombs of more than 90 of his predecessors.

The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland Archbishop Eamon Martin, who was at the Mass on Thursday, said the ceremony had been "beautiful and simple".

"Despite the fact we had such a huge gathering in St Peter's Square the prayers, the readings, the format of the liturgy was exactly as you might have in St Eugene's Cathedral or St Patricks' Pennyburn in Derry," he told BBC Radio Foyle.

"That was most likely to have been the wishes of Pope Benedict, who described himself as a simple humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord".

The former Pope, he added, was "a good person, a lovely, gentle and humble humble person" despite often being perceived as a " stern, robust defender of the faith".

Monsignor Kevin Gillespie described Pope Benedict XVI as someone who was "extremely courteous and very attentive to people"

Monsignor Kevin Gillespie previously worked in Rome at the Congregation of the Clergy and during that time he was also a personal Master of Ceremonies to Pope Benedict XVI.

Fr Gillespie, who also attended the Mass on Thursday, said the occasion was very sombre and that he was honoured to have worked with the late pontiff personally.

He described Pope Benedict XVI as someone who was "extremely courteous and very attentive to people".

"He was shy, reserved as a person, but actually on a one-to-one basis he had tremendous kindness and had a great recollection for people's situations and make that felt to them."

Fr Gillespie said the late Pope would be remembered for his "teaching and his love of the Lord Jesus Christ".