Coronavirus: Tributes paid to Liverpool Bishop Vincent Malone

A "lovely, humble, gentle" retired Roman Catholic bishop has died with coronavirus, it has been confirmed.

The Right Reverend Vincent Malone, 88, died earlier in the Royal Liverpool Hospital, days after being admitted.

The auxiliary bishop of Liverpool Archdiocese, who was born in the city, was formerly the dean of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

The city's mayor Joe Anderson said he was "an unsung hero, who did a lot of good work behind the scenes".

He added that as "a practising Catholic myself, I found him to be a lovely, humble, gentle man, who was very well respected by people of all faiths and none".

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, leader of England's Roman Catholic community, lived alongside the bishop ion the city "as a fairly young priest".

He said Bishop Malone had had "endless patience" in his cathedral work, "unfailing courtesy with every person he met" and "kindness to those in need".

The bishop, who was ordained a priest in 1955, was responsible for organising the northern English leg of Pope John Paul II's UK visit in 1982 and is also remembered for his improvised outdoor Mass, which he led with a megaphone, on the cathedral piazza on the day after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

Speaking about it in 2014, he said it had had been "a very unusual experience.

An archdiocese spokesman said the bishop, who retired in 2006, tested positive for the virus the week before he died.