Scottish Catholic Observer

Ms Buckley (above) went missing in the early hours of the morning on Sunday April 12 and remains found by police at a Milngavie farm to the north of Glasgow a few days later were formally identified as belonging to Ms Buckley.

At Mass last Sunday at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Archbishop Tartaglia (far right) said he had met with Ms Buckley’s parents and her brother Kiernan the day before and ‘they asked me for one thing—prayers.’

“They were insistent about that,” he said. “Prayers for them, prayers for Karen. And that is what I am asking today of you and all of us.” After meeting the archbishop, Ms Buckley’s parents returned to their home village of Mourneabbey to prepare for her funeral. Archbishop Tartaglia said the family were ‘softly spoken Irish people.’

“In poor words, I tried to console them and offer words of condolence and comfort,” he said. “They could not fathom why anyone would want to hurt her and kill her.”

He said the parents had told him they had been ‘consoled by looking at photographs of Karen.

In Ireland, Fr Joe O’Keeffe, the parish priest of St Michael the Archangel in Analeentha, Cork, is expecting a substantial turnout for Ms Buckley’s funeral later this week. He said the community would ‘not be found wanting’ in terms of solidarity for the late student’s parents and brothers.

Fr O’Keeffe also paid tribute to the Glasgow community for its support of the Buckleys after hundreds or people attended a special vigil ceremony in George Square last Friday. A second vigil was held by the local community in Garnethill, where she had lived, on Saturday, and a third was held at Glasgow Caledonian University, where she was studying.

A 21-year-old man has appeared in court in Glasgow charged with Ms Buckley’s murder.

—[email protected]

—This story ran in full in the April 24 edition print of the SCO, available in parishes.