An English cardinal took part in the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in an indication of openness of the British Royal family to ecumenical and interfaith dialogue.

I’ve never been a royalist. You can classify me as a Canadian who views the presence of the United Kingdom and its monarchy as an institution in Canada as one would accept there is a blue sky above his or her head — largely out of sight and out of mind.

She was known to millions as “the Queen,” as if she was the only royal matriarch in the world. But she was no ordinary monarch. She was one of the last generation of leaders in the Western world who not only publicly declared her Christian faith but lived it.

Catholics in the U.K. paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II following her death Sept. 8 and the end of a reign that lasted more than 70 years.

Pope Francis sent well-wishes to Queen Elizabeth II as the reigning British monarch began the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of her coronation as well as the public celebration of her birthday.

SHREWSBURY, England -- A former chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II is to be received into the Catholic Church.

On Feb. 6, Queen Elizabeth II marked 65 years on the throne. It’s the “sapphire” jubilee, a designation which I did not know; 65th anniversaries are rare enough, but welcome as reminders that enduring fidelity is possible. The anniversary, not marked with any great festivity given the celebrations of the Queen’s 90th birthday last year, also has something of a reminder of the liturgical seasons.

VATICAN CITY - In her 60-year reign, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has offered the world an inspiring example of Christian leadership and dedication to duty, Pope Benedict XVI said in a message to the monarch.

Congratulating the queen on her diamond jubilee, the Pope said her reign demonstrated "a commitment to maintaining the principles of freedom, justice and democracy, in keeping with a noble vision of the role of a Christian monarch."

In one of those happy liturgical coincidences — or better, providences — Feb. 6 brought the following reading from the First Book of Kings at Mass:

“The elders of Israel and all the leaders of the tribes, the princes in the ancestral houses of the children of Israel, came to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the City of David, which is Zion. All the people of Israel assembled before King Solomon during the festival in the month of Ethanim (the seventh month). When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark; they carried the ark of the Lord and the meeting tent with all the sacred vessels that were in the tent. (The priests and Levites carried them.) King Solomon and the entire community of Israel present for the occasion sacrificed before the ark sheep and oxen too many to number or count.”