Friends and family gathered at Buckfast Abbey on August 12 for the Requiem Mass of Ann Widdecombe, the former cabinet minister and prominent Catholic convert who was murdered aged 78. The Mass was offered by the Rt Rev David Charlesworth OSB, Abbot of Buckfast, at the abbey where Widdecombe had been a regular worshipper.

Received into the Catholic Church in 1993, Widdecombe was known throughout her public life for speaking openly about her faith and defending Catholic teaching on questions including the sanctity of life and religious liberty. Buckfast Abbey remembered her as a “woman of profound faith” and a “kind and warm character” who would be “missed and fondly remembered”.

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(Photos reproduced by kind permission of Buckfast Abbey)