The remains of Archbishop Michael Courtney, who was shot dead in Burundi on Monday, are expected to arrive at Dublin Airport tomorrow morning.
A funeral service will be held today in Bujumbura, capital of Burundi, before the body is flown to Ireland.
The coffin will be taken to St Mary's church in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, tomorrow evening, where it will lie in state until removal ceremonies at 8 p.m. on Friday.
Burial will be at Dromineer, Co Tipperary, on Saturday following noon Mass in St Mary's.
The Archbishop bought a plot at the "little lost graveyard" there two years ago, his sister, Ms Kathleen Vandenberghe, said last night.
She recalled he did so following a conversation with a 93-year-old friend of their father's who commented that he hadn't long to live as time was catching up on him. The Archbishop said that time was not his (the Archbishop's) problem, but a bullet might get him first.
Last night the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, said he and Archbishop Courtney had been "very good friends". Both served in Cuba, though not simultaneously. They met last August, and "he was not particularly worried" about the situation in Burundi.
Bishop John Kirby of Clonfert spent from November 23rd to 25th last with Archbishop Courtney in Burundi, where they visited a Trócaire project. They had been friendly for many years.
"There was a wit about him and he was a good conversationalist," Bishop Kirby said.
A few days earlier, Archbishop Courtney flew to Kigali in Rwanda where he met the Catholic Primate, Archbishop Seán Brady, Bishop Willie Walsh of Killaloe, Bishop William Lee of Waterford and Lismore, Bishop John Fleming of Killala, and Bishop Kirby, who were visiting Trócaire projects in Rwanda.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, expressed deep sorrow at the Archbishop's "untimely death". He was well known at the Department "as an exceptional diplomat", and had been "of the greatest assistance to the Irish Government, particularly during Ireland's recent term on the UN Security Council when Irish officials participated in two Security Council missions to Burundi".
He said: "The Holy See has lost a fine diplomat. Ireland has lost a brave and distinguished citizen" and the people of Burundi had "lost a close friend who dedicated himself to building a peaceful future for their country".
Over the coming six months the EU would be mobilised to bring a final end to violence in that country. "That would be the best tribute that could be paid to the memory of Archbishop Michael Courtney," he said.
The Archbishop is survived by his sisters Eileen, Kathleen and Mary, and his brothers William, Louis and Jim.
