The church which was built in the 1960s to seat almost 3,500 people will be replaced by a smaller church seating about 350.

He said that the destruction of St Mel’s Cathedral in 2009 touched many, as did the fire in Paris, where the people expressed shock, disbelief and real sadness about the devastation. But ultimately we are the Church; we are the house that God wants to rebuild.

Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary nun warns epidemic is not yet over and there can be no complacency until there are zero cases.