Churchgoers at St Mary's Church, Blackhill, have paid tribute to Father Dermott Donnelly, who died suddenly last week.
Fr Dermott, as the congregation at the County Durham Catholic church knew him, made many friends in the parish, near Consett, when he was priest there, and church steward Brian Robinson, who has been a member of the church community for all of his 68 years, led tributes to the priest, saying that he had made a big impression of everyone at the church in the two years he served there.
"He was sent to our parish as his first priesthood and he wasn't with us long enough," said Brian. "He served as youth minister and set up the Emmaus Youth Village just down the road from St Mary's, which has since hosted thousands of youngsters. He left St Mary's in Blackhill when he became Dean of St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle. As well as being a very gifted priest he was a fantastic human being, and his priesthood left a legacy at Blackhill. He will never be forgotten. It could be coincidence, but we had the biggest congregation since lockdown in church this weekend and all people wanted to talk about was Fr Dermott."
