Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Queues formed outside Dublin’s Pro Cathedral on Wednesday morning as faithfuls waited to sign a book of condolences for Pope Francis. The church has a special connection to the late pontiff, who visited the cathedral during his 36-hour trip to Ireland in 2018. Led by Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell, the church placed the book beside a framed photo of the pope to the right of the altar. By afternoon, long queues had died down but dozens waited inside as others trickled in to pay their respects. One of those signing the book was Rosemary Connolly, from Co Down, who said Pope Francis meant a lot to her. She told the Irish Mirror: “I think he was a great pope for our time, any time really. It was his profound humanity, his empathy for the more disadvantaged, and we are unfortunately in a world that is bereft of anything like that. “He stood out, he was always decent and good and he radiated that.” Rosemary travelled down to Dublin to spend the day with her daughter Eimear Burns Convery, who is sad that the world lost a decent man. (Image: Collins Photo Agency) She said: “He was definitely a really great pope, he was more progressive, which connected much more with me as a younger person in the church and he will definitely be missed. He had such a kind way about him, very much like Francis the saint, he connected with that title and he had a good sense of humour as well. “He will be missed, at the minute things seem very scary and it’s sad to lose a very poignant and amazing figure who could have done a lot of good.” Liam O’Keefe travelled from Kildare Town to sign the book of condolences in Dublin’s Pro Cathedral on Wednesday. He believes Pope Francis was “a humble man” who “changed the way the Vatican was being run”. The Kildare man added: “He was less conservative, particularly with transgender people, he was trying to reach out to all of them. I hope the next pope follows in his footsteps. (Image: Collins Courts) “I prayed for him to get better and thanked the lord for making him so well when he came out, it was great to see him blessing people in St Peters Square on Easter Sunday. Then when I turned on the radio on Monday to hear he had died, it came as a shock.” Angela Farrelly, from Kilnamanagh, Dublin, brought her eight-year-old grandson Joe Coady in to pay his respects to the pope. She said: “I think he was the only child there but he said he would like to do it! “Sometimes I don’t agree with everything in the Catholic Church but I found the pope to be trying to make a change and that’s important; hopefully the next pope will continue that. He was very good to the poor, I remember when he became pope he went down to pay his own bill after buying his papers, that will be his legacy. He was a kind man.” (Image: Collins Courts) Dermot Holmes, from Mullingar, Co Westmeath, said he would like to see the next pontiff be like Pope Francis, and make a change. He said: “As far as religion goes, the perception was that he was changing things so it will be interesting to see who takes his place and what is going to happen. “I have four kids between 25 and 35 and religion is the last thing on their radar. They are going to have to do something serious to get that generation back in, I don’t know how they are going to get around it- changes definitely. I can’t understand how women haven’t been going up in arms that they aren’t in more power. (Image: Collins Courts) (Image: Collins Courts) "If you go into any mass the women are fixing the altar, doing all the jobs but they aren’t able to climb the hierarchy.” Ken Fitzsimons, from Tallaght in Dublin, also hopes that the next pope will bring change to the Catholic Church. He believes the first step is allowing priests to marry. He said: “I think there’s big decisions to be made now and priests getting married will be one of them, otherwise it’s going to die. [Pope Francis] was pretty good overall I thought, he was less conservative than previous ones and he was very open. He was more with the people than other ones.” Books of condolences for Pope Francis have opened all across the country and around the globe. Fianna Fáil TD Sean Fleming signed the book in the Holy See Apostolic Nunciature in Dublin on Wednesday, as he reflected on meeting the pontiff twice. He and his wife Mary had a private audience with Pope Francis last December before he represented Ireland at a Consistory in St. Peter’s Basilica, where 21 new Cardinals were being appointed. Speaking fondly of the late pope, Deputy Fleming said: “My abiding memory is that he was a kind, gentle, friendly and holy person and it was almost like speaking to an elderly parent. “I presented him with a St. Brigid’s Cross and told him the story of St. Brigid and that Ireland has recently made her feast day a public bank holiday. He spoke strongly about the wars in the World and he was very disappointed that Europe was not playing a greater part in protecting innocent civilians around the world and especially in Gaza.” Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.