Archbishop Eamon Martin has paid tribute to journalist Lyra McKee "whose life was so cruelly and pointlessly ended by violence" in Derry on Friday.
He also extended his sympathies to her family and loved ones following her tragic death.
In his Easter Vigil, Archbishop Martin said: "This weekend I have been praying in particular for the loved ones and colleagues of the talented young journalist, Lyra McKee."
Ms Mckee was shot dead by dissident republicans in Derry, the home town of the archbishop.
A few months ago the Belfast native McKee tweeted that "Derry is such a beautiful town."
She added: “I’ve fallen in love with it over the past year while falling in love with a woman who hails from it.
“Here’s to better times ahead and saying goodbye to bombs and bullets once and for all.”
The Archbishop also spoke about the fire at Notre Dame cathedral on Monday.
He opened the Homly by saying: "...A local priest spoke of his “great sadness” at the destruction, but, seeing how much had been saved - including the Blessed Sacrament and the treasured relic of the Crown of Thorns - he also expressed his “unspeakable joy” which he put down to his “hope of the Resurrection”."
“Christ is alive! He is our hope, and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world, and everything he touches becomes young, new, full of life … Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive! He is in you, he is with you and he never abandons you. However far you may wander, he is always there, the Risen One. He calls you and he waits for you to return to him and start over again. When you feel you are growing old out of sorrow, resentment or fear, doubt or failure, he will always be there to restore your strength and your hope” (Christus vivit, 1/2).