He is an open minded, straight talking, much liked churchman of wide pastoral experience.

His genuine humility hides a deep spirituality and the breadth of his pastoral experience.

But he has no pastoral experience and his job overseeing eastern churches is not a power position in Rome.

So far, 161 clergy have signed our letter, half of whom are Northerners or have considerable pastoral experience of Northern Ireland.

Cardinal Connell's lack of pastoral experience has had an unfortunate sideline in his dealings with the media and with the general public.

But it is his pastoral experience -including stints in Burundi and South Africa -that is likely to have recommended him to Francis.

Our Australian Chaplain's pastoral experiences.

He had difficulties even with those Latin American clergy who had found themselves drawn, through their pastoral experiences, to campaigning for the poor.