Pope Francis has offered his condolences to King Charles III for the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, the UK’s longest-serving monarch.
“Deeply saddened to learn of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, I offer heartfelt condolences to Your Majesty, the Members of the Royal Family, the People of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth,” the Holy Father said.
The Pope said he joined everyone who mourns her loss “in praying for the late Queen’s eternal rest, and in paying tribute to her life of unstinting service to the good of the Nation and the Commonwealth, her example of devotion to duty, her steadfast witness of faith in Jesus Christ and her firm hope in his promises.”
Pope Francis also commended “her noble soul” to the mercy of God the Father.
“I assure Your Majesty of my prayers that Almighty God will sustain you with his unfailing grace as you now take up your high responsibilities as King,” the Pontiff told King Charles.
“Upon you and all who cherish the memory of your late mother, I invoke an abundance of divine blessings as a pledge of comfort and strength in the Lord.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols led tributes to the Queen on behalf of English and Welsh Catholics following her death in Scotland earlier in the afternoon.
The president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales said Catholics throughout the country were “heartbroken in our loss” after Elizabeth II died peacefully at Balmoral in the company of her closest family.
Bishop Hugh Gilbert of Aberdeen, the president of the Scottish Bishops’ Conference, also said Catholics in Scotland were deeply saddened to learn of the death of the monarch as the UK entered a period of mourning over 10 days.
The nation was informed at lunchtime that the Queen, 96, had fallen ill and her death was confirmed publicly at 6.30pm and that her reign of 70 years had ended.
Her eldest son succeeds her as King Charles III and Camilla will serve as Queen Consort, it has been confirmed.
The Queen died almost a year and a half after the death of her Philip, 99, her husband for 73 years.
Cardinal Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, said: “On 21 April 1947, on her twenty-first birthday, Princess Elizabeth said, ‘I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service’,” said Cardinal Nichols said.
“Now, 75 years later, we are heartbroken in our loss at her death, and so full of admiration for the unfailing way in which she fulfilled that declaration,” he said.
“Even in my sorrow, shared with so many around the world, I am filled with an immense sense of gratitude for the gift to the world that has been the life of Queen Elizabeth II,” he said. “At this time, we pray for the repose of the soul of Her Majesty. We do so with confidence, because the Christian faith marked every day of her life and activity.”
He continued: “In her Millennium Christmas message, she said, ‘To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example’.
“This faith, so often and so eloquently proclaimed in her public messages, has been an inspiration to me, and I am sure to many. The wisdom, stability and service which she consistently embodied, often in circumstances of extreme difficulty, are a shining legacy and testament to her faith.
“Our prayer is that she is now received into the merciful presence of God, there to be reunited with her beloved Prince Philip. This is the promise of our faith, and our deep consolation.
“Queen Elizabeth II will remain, always, a shining light in our history. May she now rest in peace.”
Cardinal Nichols added: “We pray for His Majesty the King, as he assumes his new office even as he mourns his mother. God save the King.”
Bishop Gilbert “It was with great sadness, that we learned today of the death of Her Majesty the Queen. Her life of outstanding service during a reign of 70 years stands as an example of dedicated public service in our own country, across the Commonwealth and around the world.
“Her determination to remain active to the end of her long life, has been an example of Christian leadership, which demonstrated her great stoicism and commitment to duty and was undoubtedly a source of stability and continuity in times of great change.
“Scotland’s Catholic bishops will remember her in our prayers and pray for all those who mourn her loss.”
Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, on 26 April 1926 to Prince Albert, Duke of York, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who ascended to the throne following the abdication of Edward VIII.
Princess Elizabeth was just 25 and touring Kenya when she was told that her father, King George VI, had died unexpectedly in his sleep at Sandringham, Norfolk, and that she was Queen.
During her coronation in Westminster Abbey on June 2 the following year, the young monarch was open about her Christian faith.
“When I spoke to you last, at Christmas, I asked you all, whatever your religion, to pray for me on the day of my Coronation – to pray that God would give me wisdom and strength to carry out the promises that I should then be making,” the Queen said in her address. “Throughout this memorable day I have been uplifted and sustained by the knowledge that your thoughts and prayers were with me.”
The Queen’s final major act of office was to receive the Prime Minister Liz Truss in Scotland two days before she died.
King Charles said in a statement: “The death of my beloved mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family.
“We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.
“During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which the Queen was so widely held.”
Queen Elizabeth passed Queen Victoria in 2015 to become Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
Ms Truss said the UK would now offer its “loyalty and devotion” to King Charles. “With the passing of the second Elizabethan age, we usher in a new era in the magnificent history of our great country, exactly as Her Majesty would have wished, by saying the words ‘God save the King’,” she said.
(Photo from 2014 courtesy of Vatican Media)