London cathedral live streams memorial for beloved stray cat

Oct. 29 (UPI) -- A beloved stray cat that made London's Southwark Cathedral her home for 12 years was memorialized in a special service hosted by the cathedral's dean on live stream.

Andrew Nunn, the dean of Southwark Cathedral, live streamed a service of thanksgiving on Wednesday in memory of Doorkins Magnificat, a stray cat that wandered into the building in 2008 and lived there for 12 years before her death Sept. 30.

Nunn said Doorkins was a common sight inside the cathedral and was popular with visitors to the church.

"She was enormously popular and had a massive Twitter following -- and was also the focus of a lot of people's visits to the cathedral," Nunn told CNN.

He said he felt it was appropriate to hold a memorial for the feline.

"When she died the response was huge, and we knew we had to do something -- there was no way in which we could just ignore the fact -- and why would you, we loved her, and she gave a lot to our life," he said.

Nunn said Doorkins' tenure at the Cathedral included an encounter with Queen Elizabeth II during a 2012 visit. He said the cat gave the queen a look before going to sleep, eliciting amusement from the royal.

He said the cat was an asset for the church's public relations.

"I got used to the fact that she had more Twitter followers than I did -- and that she brought more people to church than I will ever do," Nunn said. "People came in and they wouldn't necessarily be churchgoers, but they'd come in to find the cat -- and I think that they found themselves very welcome. Ending up in a sacred space and spending time with a cat was good for people."