'It was a privilege to say goodbye to the Pope'

A trainee priest who is studying in Rome has said it was "a privilege to say goodbye" to Pope Francis.

Dominic Redcliffe from Liverpool said he had prayed for the Pope and given thanks "for his gentleness and care for all" while he was among the crowds attending the Pope's funeral earlier.

Mr Redcliffe told BBC Radio Merseyside he had also been to pay his respects while the Pope's body was lying in state at St Peter's Basilica.

He said he was grateful to have "this opportunity to say goodbye to Pope Francis and to give thanksgiving because he has done so many things for all sorts of people - Christians, Catholics, people of no faith and different faiths".

"The Pope's funeral was an example of the worldwide church coming together," he added.

An estimated 400,000 mourners gathered in St Peter's Square and on nearby streets in Rome for Pope Francis's funeral mass, with 40,000 in St Peter's Square alone.

The Pope's final resting place will be the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

Mr Redcliffe said he had met the Pope and shaken his hand in October after his college was invited to an audience with him, and said it was "a very special moment".

"He had a lovely smile on his face and had time for people and you really felt that that was where he wanted to be, just with everyday people, and you could tell that, you could really get that feeling from him," he said.

Mr Redcliffe, who is nearing the end of the first of four years of training, said he had been in St Peter's Square for the Easter Sunday mass.

"It was amazing that the Holy Father actually came out after mass and went round the square in the Popemobile," he said.

"No-one expected that with his illness so that was a joy."

Mr Redcliffe said when news of the Pope's death broke on Monday there was "complete shock because we'd seen him in the square less than 24 hours beforehand".

Pope Francis's funeral service was led by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re.

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