Pope sends Queen Elizabeth greetings for Diamond Jubilee

A letter from Pope Benedict XVI to Queen Elizabeth II was read out at a Service of Thanksgiving here in Rome on Tuesday, the final day of celebrations for her Diamond Jubilee. The Service at All Saints Anglican Church in Rome was attended by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia, religious leaders from many different Christian denominations, as well as ambassadors from countries around the world.

Read the full text of the letter below:

To Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II

I write to offer my warmest congratulations to Your Majesty on the happy occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of your reign. During the past sixty years you have offered to your subjects and to the whole world an inspiring example of dedication to duty and a commitment to maintaining the principles of freedom, justice and democracy, in keeping with a noble vision of the role of a Christian monarch.

I retain warm memories of the gracious welcome accorded to me by Your Majesty at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh at the beginning of my Apostolic Visit to the United Kingdom in September 2010, and I renew my thanks for the hospitality that I received throughout those four days. Your personal commitment to cooperation and mutual respect between the followers of different religious traditions has contributed in no small measure to improving ecumenical and interreligious relations throughout your realms.

Commending Your Majesty and all the Royal Family to the protection of Almighty God, I renew my heartfelt good wishes on this joyful occasion and I assure you of my prayers for your continuing health and prosperity.

From the Vatican, 23 May 2012