Declan Donnelly, one half of the popular TV duo Ant and Dec, attended a requiem service for his brother on Friday, telling mourners that the Donnelly family doesn’t understand why he’s gone.
55-yr-old Fr Dermott Donnelly died in hospital earlier this month after falling seriously ill.
He had just celebrated 30 years of service in the Catholic Church and indeed married Dec just 7 years ago.
The mass was held at St Mary’s Cathedral in Newcastle, where in December 2015 Dec married Ali Astall in a service led by his brother, Fr Dermott.
Hundreds of people gathered on Friday with more than 2,000 people watching a live broadcast.
During the service, an emotional Dec said the world was “worse place because Dermott is no longer with us”.
Sky reports that Dec said: “We can’t believe he’s gone, we still can’t understand why he’s gone – but we trust God took him because his talents were needed elsewhere.
“We as a family will miss him immeasurably.”
Dec thanked the community for “all the amazing tributes and messages of support”, saying the family had been “simply overwhelmed by the kindness we’ve been shown”.
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