Hundreds of Oxfordshire residents said goodbye to the Pope at services across the county, while others watched the funeral on television yesterday.

The Black Swan, in Crown Street, east Oxford, was expecting many members of the city's Irish community to watch the funeral service in Rome, on the pub's big screen.

Twice as many worshippers as usual went to morning mass at The Oratory, the Catholic Church of St Aloysius Gonzaga, in Woodstock Road, Oxford, to include the late Pope John Paul II in their prayers.

The church was full to capacity on Tuesday, (April 5) when 350 people gathered for a solemn requiem mass following the pontiff's death last weekend.

Yesterday, about 40 people marked the historic event by celebrating the 7.30am mass taken by parish priest Father Richard Duffield, with the Holy Father foremost in their hearts and minds.

Veronica Smith, from Oddington, near Kidlington, said: "I come to show that I love the Pope and that I'm with him in spirit, as I have been since the day he was elected." A shrine to the pontiff stood before the altar, bearing his portrait and the papal flag.

In Bicester, Catholics gathered at the Church of the Immaculate Conception for a special requiem mass on Thursday night. (April 7)

Beverley Savage, from Brackley, said the pontiff's death had taken her by surprise and added: "I just felt as though I had lost a member of my family."

Worshippers also gathered at St John Vianney Catholic Church, in Wantage, to pray at a Requiem Mass led by Canon Peter Turbitt.

Ruth Coyne, 73, from Stanford in the Vale, said: "He was the best Pope for a very long time. He tried to meet everybody and the young people loved him as well."

Canon Turbitt said: "There were hundreds at mass on Sunday, but it was a quieter service today, because it is a working day and some people are on holiday."

At the English Martyrs' Catholic Church, in Didcot, an altar was created in celebration of the pontiff's life. About 150 people attended a requiem mass at the church on Thursday night -- (April 7) led by Father Bob Jennings.

In Witney, people attended special masses at the town's community hospital and a school hall.

The town's Roman Catholic church -- Our Lady and St Hugh -- is closed for refurbishment.