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In a time marked by polarisation and division, an act of unity could be the antidote. That surely is a hope from today’s historic event between the Catholic Church and the Church of England, for today was the first time a Pope and a British monarch publicly prayed together.
King Charles III, as head of state but most significantly as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, accompanied by Queen Camilla, have made a two–day state visit to the Holy See. The King privately met with Pope Leo XIV in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican today marking their first meeting, with reportedly two central themes being discussed: Christian unity and care for creation.
The King then joined the Pope in the Sistine Chapel for an ecumenical prayer service – the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and the head of the Catholic Church praying together in a public display of ‘unity’. It was the first public joint prayer service between a Pope and a British monarch in over 500 years, since the Reformation in the 16th century when Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church. They were joined by clergy and choirs from both Churches, with the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell (the Primate and most senior cleric in the Church of England ahead of the enthronement of Sarah Mullaly as Archbishop of Canterbury next year) joining the Pope in leading the prayers.
There were also an exchange of titles and a visit to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, one of the Four Major Papal Basilicas, which has a historic connection to England’s monarchy whereby previous kings of England were recognised as ‘protectors’ of the Basilica and abbey. King Charles received a Papal knighthood, and the King made Pope Leo a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. The King became a “Royal Confrater” of the adjoining Benedictine abbey in recognition of his ecumenical efforts, and the Pope became “Papal Confrater” of St George’s Chapel in Windsor. The King also received a seat, engraved with his coat of arms and a verse from the Gospel of St John in Latin ‘Ut unum sint’ (That they may be one). The chair will remain in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls for Charles and his heirs to use on future visits.
The visit holds deep historic resonance. From Henry VIII’s declaration as the supreme head of the Church of England in 1534 breaking from the Catholic Church, the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536, and the subsequent persecution of Catholics in England, today’s event is monumental, albeit the groundwork had been laid over many decades. The Catholic Church and the Church of England – including through successive monarchs – have been improving their ties especially in the last decades through many local and national ecumenical efforts. In 1980, Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to make a state visit to the Vatican, and she welcomed both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI in state visits to the UK. For his part, the King has shown concerted efforts of an ecumenical nature. However, this visit marks the strongest steps of ecumenism yet taken between the two denominations. A complete reconciliation between the two Churches is still a long way off, but as a display of ‘unity’ in a fractured world, a powerful message was conveyed.
‘Unity’ is not a word many would describe of today’s world. We see more division and fracturing in politics, society and culture at large. However, through this visit and ecumenical service today, the Church is reminding us that division need not tear us apart, and we should live in hope ‘that they may be one’.
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King Charles and Pope Leo Pray Together in Groundbreaking Moment
It was the first time in hundreds of years that the leaders of the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches prayed together, offering a public display of unity.
Nearly five centuries after King Henry VIII of England broke with the Roman Catholic Church so he could have his marriage dissolved in order to marry again (and again and again), a divorced and remarried English king prayed with the pope on Thursday in an ecumenical service at the Sistine Chapel.
The service was conducted in the same chamber where Pope Leo XIV was recently selected as head of the Roman Catholic Church. It was the first time in hundreds of years that a pontiff and a British monarch, the nominal head of the Church of England, have publicly prayed together.
The gathering was a sign of markedly improved relations between the Anglican and Catholic denominations as well as the eagerness of King Charles III to be viewed as an ecumenical leader. Queen Elizabeth II, the king’s mother, met with several popes during her reign but never publicly prayed with any of them.
The Most Rev. Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York, and Leo led the prayers in English and Latin accompanied by both Anglican and Catholic choirs, as the king and queen sat on gold chairs nearby.
The king and queen participated in the service as part of a state visit to the Vatican to coincide with the Jubilee, a year of penance and forgiveness that takes place every quarter century.
For Charles, the visit comes at a difficult time, as the royal family struggles to deal with new disclosures about the ties of Prince Andrew, his brother, to the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Under intense pressure from the king, Andrew gave up the use of his title, the Duke of York.
But the trip also showcases one of the king’s most longstanding causes: religious tolerance. He marked his first 100 days on the throne in 2022 by visiting a Jewish community center in London and dancing the hora at a Hanukkah party. At his coronation in 2023, he met with leaders of non-Christian faiths, among them Judaism, Buddhism and Sikhism.
Charles’s pluralistic approach has occasionally landed him in hot water. In 1994, decades before becoming king, he said he foresaw his role as a defender of faith in general, in what was seen as a nod to Britain’s growing diversity. He later clarified his remarks, saying, “While at the same time being Defender of the Faith, you can also be protector of faiths.”
In a solemn ceremony during a second ecumenical service on Thursday at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, the king assumed the honorary title of Royal Confrater, which recognizes the historical ties between the monarchy and the church. The Vatican also designed a chair for the king and his descendants decorated with the royal coat of arms and bearing an inscription of the Latin phrase “Ut unum sint” — “That they may be one” — recognizing a shared Christian faith.
Cardinal James Harvey, archpriest of the basilica, said during the service that the significance of the king’s visit could not “be overestimated.” It represented “a soul-stirring new chapter in the long history of relations” between the two churches, he said.
Earlier in the day, the king and queen had a private audience with Leo.
The king also met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state. The Vatican said in a statement that they discussed “matters of common interest” including protecting the environment and alleviating poverty.
The services were organized as a sign “of our closeness and willingness to see one another as brothers and sisters despite differences,” Reverend Martin Browne, who is part of the Vatican department that promotes Christian unity in Rome, said before the visit. “That is clearly an important sign for the world, not just in terms of the ecumenical project but for humanity in general.”
Ordinarily, the archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Church of England, would have accompanied the king on a visit to Rome. But the Most Rev. Justin Welby resigned last November after a report said he had failed to pursue a proper investigation into claims of widespread clerical abuse of boys and young men. This month, the Right Rev. Sarah Mullally was named the first woman to occupy the role, but she is not expected to be installed officially until early next year.
The ordination of women is a dividing line between the Anglican and Catholic faiths. The Anglican Church has allowed women to be priests since the 1970s, but the Vatican permits only men to be ordained and has repeatedly postponed discussions about whether women can be ordained, even as lower-ranking church ministers known as deacons.
Archbishop Flavio Pace, secretary of the Vatican department that promotes Christian unity, acknowledged at a press briefing last week that the ordination of Anglican women was a “potential problem” between the churches. But, he added, it “is more urgent that we stay together, that we dialogue and that we continue to walk together.”
Once Archbishop-designate Mullally steps into her role, she is likely to meet Leo. “The development of having female clergy and female bishops in the Church of England is one that is recognized as a matter for the Church of England by the Catholic Church,” said the Right Rev. Anthony Ball, the archbishop of Canterbury’s representative to the Holy See.
In theory, there is no reason the pope cannot conduct future prayer services with a female archbishop of Canterbury, said Anna Rowlands, a political theologian at Durham University in England. “She will be, once installed, the head of a fellow Christian ecclesial community” that the Catholic Church has a relationship with, Professor Rowlands said.
Leo’s praying with King Charles does not represent a meeting of the minds on other issues that may divide the churches, theological experts said.
Anglican priests can be married and some Anglican churches allow openly gay priests, while the Catholic Church demands that clerics remain celibate and prohibits openly gay clergy. Divorced Catholics who have not had their marriages annulled may not remarry in a church service, while divorced Anglicans can.
“We don’t have to change each other,” said the Very Rev. Andrew McGowan, a professor of Anglican studies at the Yale Divinity School.
Experts said it was unlikely that the pope or the king would bring up divisive issues. “There’s certain topics you don’t bring up at Thanksgiving dinner,” said Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a senior analyst at Religion News Service and a longtime Vatican analyst. “You know where everybody stands, and so the effort is to see where we can work together.”
The king’s visit was originally scheduled to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si, Francis’s groundbreaking document on the need to protect the health of the planet. Leo has spoken forcefully about the need for global action to prevent the greatest burdens of climate change from falling on the poor, and King Charles has long warned of an existential threat to humanity from rising carbon emissions.
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Pope Leo and King Charles make history with first-ever joint prayer service in Sistine Chapel
King Charles III and Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom were received in a private audience by Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace this morning, Oct. 23, during a state visit to the Holy See. Afterward, for the first time in history, a British monarch and a pope prayed together in the Sistine Chapel in an event of great ecumenical significance.
The royal couple arrived at the Vatican in a motorcade that drove through St. Peter’s Square and the Arch of the Bells and then to the San Damaso Courtyard of the Apostolic Palace. They were given a state welcome with a guard of honor provided by the Swiss Guard, as a band played the national anthems of the United Kingdom and Vatican City State. The regent of the papal household, Msgr. Leonardo Sapienza, then escorted them to the pope’s library, where they were welcomed by Pope Leo.
Charles had met three other popes—John Paul II, Benedict and Francis—while he was Prince of Wales, and met Francis a second time after ascending to the throne; it was his and Queen Camilla’s first encounter with Pope Leo.
At the end of the audience, King Charles presented to Pope Leo representatives of the Church of England who had accompanied him. He then gave the pontiff a large silver photograph and an icon of St. Edward the Confessor, while the pope gifted him with a Vatican-made scaled version of the mosaic of “Christ Pantocrator” that is housed in the Norman Cathedral of Cefalù, Sicily.
Further, in an extraordinary exchange of honors, King Charles conferred on Pope Leo the honor of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, which is the order traditionally given to heads of state. The pope, for his part, conferred on Charles the honor of Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Vatican Order of Pope Pius IX, and on Queen Camilla the honor of Dame Grand Cross of the same order.
Following the private audience, King Charles had a meeting with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the English-born secretary for relations with states and international organizations. The king had first met Cardinal Parolin when the cardinal attended the royal coronation ceremony in May 2023—the first papal representative to attend the coronation of a British monarch in 500 years.
The Vatican issued a statement after the royal couple had left the city-state that recalled their meeting with Pope Leo. Then, referring to “the cordial talks” at the Secretariat of State, it said that “appreciation was expressed” for “good existing bilateral relations.” It reported that they discussed “matters of common interest…such as environmental protection and the fight against poverty” and gave “particular attention…to the shared commitment to promoting peace and security in the face of global challenges.” They also reflected on “the history of the Church in the United Kingdom” and “the need to continue promoting ecumenical dialogue.”
While King Charles visited the Secretariat of State, Queen Camilla was given a guided tour of the Pauline Chapel by Dr. Barbara Jatta, the first female director of the Vatican Museums. The chapel, built between 1537 and 1540, is the official papal chapel and is also where the cardinals gather before entering a conclave in the Sistine Chapel.
A historic prayer in the Sistine Chapel
Soon after midday, history was made when the royal couple entered the Sistine Chapel together, followed by Pope Leo and Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, the Anglican archbishop of York, to recite and sing together the church’s midday prayer.
As king, Charles is the supreme governor of the Church of England, and at his request, the ecumenical prayer service centered on two themes: Christian unity and care for creation. The theme of unity was highlighted by the opening hymn, the text of which was written by St. Ambrose but translated into English by St. John Henry Newman. (In 2019, the then-Prince of Wales attended Pope Francis’ canonization of the Anglican priest and scholar who became Catholic.) The ceremony’s location highlighted the theme of care for creation; the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was painted by Michelangelo with nine scenes from the Book of Genesis, the best known of which depicts God stretching out his hand to create Adam.
During the ceremony, the royal couple, the pope and the archbishop sat on chairs under Michelangelo’s Last Judgment, which the artist painted between 1536 and 1541, in the years after the separation of the churches of Rome and England in 1534.
The religious service was presided over by the first American-born pope while the archbishop of York read the introductory prayer. Three choirs led the singing of hymns and psalms: the children of the Chapel Royal at St. James Palace, London, the choir of St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle and the Sistine Choir.
After praying in the Sistine Chapel, the king and pope went to the Sala Regia, a state hall between the Sistine and Pauline chapels, for a discussion on care for creation. There, they were joined by representatives from climate organizations and the business world committed to sustainable development. Alessandra Smerilli, F.M.A., the secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, gave an introduction at the meeting. At the end of the meeting, the pope and the king exchanged orchids, a plant known for its resilience in difficult environments, as a sign of their mutual commitment to the care of creation.
St. Paul’s and another milestone
After the prayer service, the royal couple bade farewell to the pope and left the Vatican. In the afternoon, they drove to the papal basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, which is attached to a Benedictine abbey, for another ecumenical ceremony. The basilica and abbey have centuries-old links with the English monarchy, dating back to the Saxon kings who contributed to the upkeep of this ancient building over the tomb of St. Paul. By the late Middle Ages, the kings of England were regarded as the protectors of the basilica and abbey, as recalled by the insignia of the Order of the Garter that can be seen here today.
The Benedictine Abbot of St. Paul’s, Donato Ogliari, O.S.B., and the archpriest of the basilica, Cardinal James Harvey, welcomed the king and queen on their arrival and accompanied them through the Holy Door—open only during the Jubilee Year—into the basilica and escorted them to the tomb of St. Paul under the main altar.
The Benedictine abbot presided over the ceremony that included welcoming King Charles as a “Royal Confrater”—that is, a royal member of the brotherhood of St. Paul’s basilica and abbey. This is a unique honor given to King Charles with the approval of Pope Leo. The text conferring the title was read out and said the honor is bestowed “in recognition of the historic association” between the English monarchy and the basilica and abbey” and “in thanksgiving for the steps taken since the Second Vatican Council in the common ecumenical journey” by the churches of Rome and of England. Moreover, it is given “as a sign and pledge of mutual friendship and of our commitment to the fraternal task of the ecumenical movement, so that our churches, walking together, may move forward, seeking the unity for which Our Lord prayed.”
Meant as a gesture of hospitality and spiritual fellowship, the designation “Royal Confrater” reflects the ever-growing friendship between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England and is also a recognition of Charles’s own efforts to bring people of faith together. A special chair was designed for him to accompany that honor; it is decorated with his royal coat of arms and the motto “Ut Unum Sint” (“That they may be one”)—words from Chapter 17 of St. John’s Gospel that are also the title of a 1995 encyclical by Pope John Paul II on the topic of ecumenism and Christian unity. He sat on this chair during the singing of vespers. After the ceremony, it will remain in the basilica.
Today’s evening prayer service concluded with the recital of the Our Father in English, and soon after, King Charles drove to the nearby Beda College, a Catholic seminary, named after the English saint Venerable Bede, for men who discern their call to the priesthood later in life. At a reception hosted at the college, he met trainee priests, ambassadors from the Commonwealth countries and British nationals working in the Vatican.
Queen Camilla, meanwhile, met Catholic sisters from the International Union of Religious Superiors General, a body set up in 1965 to promote greater collaboration between women’s religious congregations. Accompanied by the group’s new executive secretary, Roxanne Schares, S.S.N.D., she spoke with some of the sisters and learned about the work they do across the globe to support female empowerment through educational opportunities, better access to health care, sexual violence and human trafficking prevention and environmental protection.
After these last events of a truly historic state visit, the royal couple returned to England, conscious that they had laid another milestone on the road to Christian unity.