Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has died at the age of 96, 70 years into her reign as monarch.
Bishop Hugh Gilbert of the Diocese of Aberdeen, where Her Majesty passed at her Balmoral residence, said: “It was with great sadness, that we learned today of the death of Her Majesty the Queen’.
The president of the Scottish Bishop’s conference, who are currently meeting in Salamanca, said ‘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,” he concluded.
Archbishop Leo Cushley of St Andrews and Edinburgh said the Queen had been an ‘extraordinary example of Christian leadership’.
“We offer our prayers for the repose of her soul and thank God for her many years of service to the nation,” he said. “May she rest in peace.”
On hearing the news Archbishop William Nolan of Glasgow said ‘In her long reign Queen Elizabeth was a powerful witness to Christian faith and an extraordinary example of fidelity to duty’.
“We mourn not just the death of our queen but the death of a good woman,” he said. “May she rest in peace. Scotland’s Catholic bishops will remember her in our prayers and pray for all those who mourn her loss.”