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King Charles III Becomes First UK King to Pray With Pope in 500 Years
Charles’s Vatican visit with Pope Leo XIV marks a new chapter in Anglican-Catholic relations, blending faith, diplomacy, and environmental advocacy.
- Publish date: Thursday، 23 October 2025 Reading time: two min read
In a landmark event of religious and diplomatic significance, King Charles III, on Thursday, 23 October, became the first British monarch in roughly five centuries to publicly pray alongside a pope, joining Pope Leo XIV at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City.
The service, lasting approximately 30 minutes, blended Catholic and Anglican traditions and was held beneath Michelangelo’s famed ceiling. The ceremony featured contributions from the Sistine Chapel Choir, alongside the royal choirs of Windsor, symbolising a deepening bond between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.
As part of the visit, Charles and his wife Queen Camilla were welcomed with full honours at the Apostolic Palace, including a private audience with the Pope in the papal library. The ritual at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls saw Charles being named a "Royal Confrater," complete with a reserved seat bearing his coat of arms for future British monarchs—a symbolic gesture of spiritual fellowship and shared purpose.
This moment carries profound historic weight: since Henry VIII’s break from Rome in 1534, which established the Church of England and marked the start of centuries of estrangement between the two churches, no British sovereign had publicly prayed with a pope.
The service also centred on environmental stewardship—a long-time priority for King Charles—and featured joint hymns and prayers that emphasised care for creation as a shared calling across Christian traditions.
Amid what is for the royal family a challenging period—marked by continuing scrutiny over Prince Andrew’s controversies and the King’s own health concerns—this visit to the Vatican offers a potent and profound symbol of faith, unity, and renewal.
By aligning the crown with the papacy in prayer, this event signals a new chapter in Christian-church relations, underlining a willingness to recognise historic divides while moving forward with collaboration. While it does not erase theological differences, it opens the door to deeper mutual respect and shared missions between Anglicanism and Catholicism.
This article was previously published on omanmoments. To see the original article, click here