Vatican City: Britain’s King Charles and Pope Leo prayed side by side in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel on Thursday, marking the first joint act of worship between an English monarch and a Catholic pontiff since King Henry VIII severed ties with Rome nearly five centuries ago.
Latin chants and English prayers reverberated beneath Michelangelo’s frescoes of The Last Judgment, as Pope Leo led the service alongside Anglican Archbishop Stephen Cottrell.
King Charles, as supreme governor of the Church of England, was seated beside the pontiff near the chapel’s altar. The Sistine Chapel Choir performed alongside two royal choirs, symbolizing the growing harmony between the two Christian traditions.
Marking a historic moment in Anglican-Catholic relations, King Charles III and Queen Camilla joined Pope Leo XIV in the Sistine Chapel for Midday Prayer as part of their official state visit to the Vatican.
The ecumenical prayer service, held in Latin and English, built upon… pic.twitter.com/qPIzRgouid
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) October 23, 2025
Healing of Religious Divides
The royal visit is a powerful gesture of reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, whose split in 1534 was one of the most defining ruptures in Christian history.
“There is a strong sense that this moment in the extraordinary setting of the Sistine Chapel offers a kind of healing of history,” said Rev. James Hawkey, canon theologian at Westminster Abbey.
Archbishop Cottrell led prayers on behalf of Sarah Mullally, who is set to become the first woman to serve as Archbishop of Canterbury next year.
In the Papal Basilica and Abbey of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, The King and Queen have attended an ecumenical service, to mark His Majesty becoming ‘Royal Confrater’ of the Abbey of St. Paul.
The King sat in a specially created seat – given in honour of His Majesty becoming… pic.twitter.com/0w1BximB5x
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) October 23, 2025
Centuries of Division to Dialogue
The centuries-old rift between Rome and London began after Pope Clement VII’s refusal to annul Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon, prompting the king to establish the Church of England.
The split led to decades of religious turmoil, during which hundreds were persecuted for their faith as England alternated between Catholic and Protestant rule.
Today’s unprecedented act of unity stands as a striking contrast to that violent past. Since the 1960s, successive popes and Anglican leaders have sought to mend relations through interfaith dialogue and shared missions.
In addition to the prayer service in the Sistine Chapel, the British monarchs made a few more stops on their visit to Rome. King Charles received the title of Royal Confrater of Saint Paul in the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Wall – connecting the monarch and the… pic.twitter.com/HKClDNxAia
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) October 23, 2025
New Titles and Honours
Earlier in the day, King Charles and Queen Camilla held a private audience with Pope Leo before the monarch was honoured at Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. There, the King received the new title of ‘Royal Confrater’, symbolizing brotherhood with the abbey community. A wooden chair, adorned with the royal coat of arms and the Latin motto Ut unum sint (“That they may be one”), has been designated for use exclusively by future British monarchs.
In return, Charles bestowed two British honours on Pope Leo: naming him “Papal Confrater” of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, and awarding him the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.
“These honours show the commitment that both of our Churches have to working for a shared future,” said Bishop Anthony Ball, the Anglican representative to the Vatican.
The visit comes amid domestic challenges for the British royal family, yet it underscores King Charles’s broader vision of faith as a bridge between communities.
