Britain made history on Thursday as King Charles prays with Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, marking the first joint worship between an English monarch and a Catholic pope since 1534.
The service, led by Pope Leo and Anglican Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, featured Latin chants and English prayers beneath Michelangelo’s frescoes of the Last Judgment. Charles, supreme governor of the Church of England, was seated beside the pope near the altar, accompanied by the Sistine Chapel Choir and two royal choirs.
Earlier in the day, Charles and Queen Camilla held a private meeting with Pope Leo. Anglican Rev. James Hawkey described the joint prayer as “a kind of healing of history,” highlighting decades of dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.
Later Thursday, Charles will visit Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, where Pope Leo will bestow the title of Royal Confrater on the king. A specially decorated chair, bearing Charles’ coat of arms and the motto “Ut unum sint” (That they may be one), will be reserved for future British monarchs. Bishop Anthony Ball said the honours “show the commitment that both of our Churches have to working for a shared future.”
Buckingham Palace confirmed that Charles has also granted Pope Leo two British honours: making him “Papal Confrater” of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, and awarding him the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.
The Church of England, part of the global Anglican Communion with 85 million members, formally split from the Catholic Church in 1534 after Pope Clement VII refused to annul Henry VIII’s marriage. Despite differences over clerical celibacy and female ordination, the historic prayer underscores reconciliation and strengthening ties between the two traditions, nearly 500 years after their separation.