Former Irish Roman Catholic church leader Cardinal Cahal Daly was today receiving the freedom of a small Italian town.
The honour was being conferred on the cardinal at a ceremony in Bobbio -the seventh century base in the north of Italy of Irish-born St Columbanus -for his work in the cause of peace in Northern Ireland.
The saint, whose tomb is in Bobbio, is remembered at celebrations in the town every November. Columbanus established a monastery locally and died there in AD 615.
In the words of the document conferring Dr Daly as a freeman, the people of Bobbio are honouring the former church leader - now the Archbishop Emeritus of Armagh - "for your outstanding work for peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland as Primate of All Ireland, and as a further encouragement for the peace process in that region."
Ahead of accepting the award in Bobbio - which is twinned with the town of Navan, in Co Meath - Dr Daly said he was deeply moved by the honour.
He added: "Bobbio is famous throughout the world because of its great patron and founder, St Columbanus, surely one of the greatest of Irish and indeed of European saints.
"I am moved particularly by the fact that you have graciously decided to confer this honour on me because of what you kindly call my work for peace in Northern Ireland. What I did was small compared with the work of others."
The cardinal was accompanied at the ceremony by fellow church peace worker Father Raymond Murray.
PA