The historic service at the Sistine Chapel in Rome, during the King’s state visit to the Holy See, was the first time a British monarch and a Pope have prayed together since the Reformation.

 

With King Charles standing with him in front of the congregation, Pope Leo XIV prayed, “God our father, you have created the heavens and the earth, and made us in your own image. Teach us to see your hand in all your works and your likeness in all your children. Through Christ our Lord.”

Then Pope Leo and the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said the Grace together.

The visit was organised as part of the current Jubilee Year of Hope. It was intended to take place earlier this year, with Pope Francis, but that became a private visit after Francis became unwell.

This visit is the first time King Charles III has met Pope Leo XIV although as Prince of Wales he visited the Holy See five times: April 1985, April 2005 for the funeral of Pope John Paul II, April 2009, April 2017 and October 2019 for the Canonisation of Cardinal John Henry Newman.

He was received by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 and Pope Francis in 2017 and 2019. The Queen, as Duchess of Cornwall, was with him in 2009 and 2017.

Earlier, he met Pope John Paul II in Canterbury in 1982, the first ever visit to the UK by a Pope.

Before the visit, a spokesman for King Charles said a stronger relationship between the Church of England and Catholic Church would serve as a “bulwark against those promoting conflict, division and tyranny”.

At another service this evening, the King will become Royal Confrater of the Abbey and Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls.  In return, with the approval of The King, the Dean and Canons of the College of St George Windsor have offered that Pope Leo XIV become Papal Confrater of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. The Pope has accepted.

These mutual gifts of “confraternity” are recognitions of spiritual fellowship and are deeply symbolic of the journey the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church have travelled over the past 500 years, a spokesman said.

There will also be an exchange of honours. The King will confer on The Pope the honour of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, the Order traditionally given to Heads of State. The Pope will confer on The King the honour of Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Vatican Order of Pope Pius IX. The Pope will also confer on The Queen the honour of Dame Grand Cross of the same Order.

Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, Parish Priest of Farm Street Church, the Jesuit parish in Central London, who is currently in Rome, said: “This is such an exciting and potentially pivotal moment on the journey towards the full unity for which we are striving. Christ’s command is that all be one in Him, and we are painfully aware of the historic divisions which have been such an obstacle to this.

“An unprecedented State Visit of The King to the Holy See as Head of the Church of England is far from a mere gesture but a statement of an ardent desire for that unity which Christ commands.

“Praying alongside the Holy Father in the Sistine Chapel and being installed as a Confrater of the great basilica of unity St Paul’s outside the Walls as were the English monarchs of the pre-Reformation Church, is a major step on our ecumenical journey together.”

Farm Street has been closely involved in ecumenism in recent years, welcoming King Charles III in December for a special Advent service celebrating the courage of Christian communities.