Cardinal Sean Brady last night paid tribute to Fr Jeremiah (Jerry) Roche, the Irish priest murdered last week in Kenya.The Primate of All Ireland said the death of 68-year-old Fr Roche was a reminder of the great sacrifice made by Irish missionaries.
The priest died after he was stabbed in the throat by robbers in what the cardinal described as "gruesome circumstances".
Robbers took a CD player, two mobile phones and the priest's blood-stained clothes, which were later found.
A post-mortem is expected to take place today on the body of Fr Roche before his body is released and brought home.
Fr Roche's sister has paid tribute to the deceased clergyman who had a passion for helping people and spreading the teachings of the gospel.
Prayers were said at services held by the Wicklow-based Kiltegan Fathers, the order to which he belonged for 40 years.
"I deeply sympathise with Fr Roche's family and his confreres in the St Patrick's Missionary Society (Kiltegan Fathers) at this very difficult time," Cardinal Brady said.
"The gruesome circumstances surrounding Fr Roche's death has also shocked all those who loved and admired him in his parish in Kericho and in his home parish of Athea, Co Limerick, where he planned to retire next year having spent over 40 years working as a missionary priest.
"Fr Roche's death is a reminder to us of the great sacrifice of those who risk their lives answering God's call to bring the Good News to the poorest of the poor around the world. I pray especially for the safety of our religious and lay missionaries who work under the threat of violence in their communities."
The hunt is continuing for the killers of Fr Roche, who died in his home in a quiet rural area close to Kericho, the centre of the country's tea industry, some 190 miles west of the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
The robbers cut through an iron grille covering the priest's bedroom window. He was then stripped naked and had his hands tied to a chair before he was stabbed in the throat and violently struck on the head.
Fr Tom Kiggins, spokesman for the Kiltegan Fathers, said the priest's family had decided that he would be buried in Athea, Co Limerick, where his family is from.
There had initially been plans to bury him in Kenya, said Fr Kiggins. "The family were very anxious to get him home, to have his body home," he said.
A memorial ceremony will be held in Kenya before Fr Roche's body is flown home later this week.
"We are still in shock I suppose and still very upset. People are very shocked by the way he died, also the savagery and all that," Fr Kiggins said.
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