BISHOP of Durham Paul Butler has focussed on the importance of funerals in his annual Easter message.

He has spoken about the recent dignified procession through the lined London streets for PC Keith Palmer who lost his life in the recent terror attack in the capital.

Bishop Paul said it was “testimony to how much we still value our police service”.

He said: “It speaks of how we honour someone laying down their life for the safety of others.”

The Bishop also mentioned the deaths of 44 Christians who died in suicide bomb attacks on two Coptic churches in Egypt.

Bishop Paul said the reality of funeral poverty is a particular concern, along with services that are not led well, or where respect is forgotten.

He said: “We need to be a society that openly talks about death; whether that be the death of one who has had a long fulfilling life, or the sudden tragic, unexpected death of one caught up in a terror attack, or illness, or accident.

“We rage against death but struggle to talk about it openly.

“Funerals should always be about honouring the person who has died.”