Almost five centuries after King Henry VIII famously separated from the Roman Catholic Church to annul his marriage, a remarkable scene unfolded in the Sistine Chapel on Thursday. A divorced and remarried English monarch, King Charles III, prayed alongside Pope Leo XIV in a deeply symbolic ecumenical service. This event marks the first time in hundreds of years that a reigning British monarch, who also serves as the nominal head of the Church of England, has publicly shared prayers with a Roman Catholic pontiff.
The solemn service, held within the very chamber where Pope Leo XIV was recently chosen to lead the Catholic Church, signifies a significant thawing of relations between the Anglican and Catholic faiths. It also highlights King Charles III’s clear dedication to fostering interfaith understanding. While his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, met with various popes during her long reign, she never participated in a public prayer alongside any of them.
Leading the prayers were the Most Rev. Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York, and Pope Leo XIV, with hymns sung in both English and Latin by Anglican and Catholic choirs. King Charles III and Queen Camilla were seated prominently on golden chairs, witnessing this momentous occasion.
The royal couple’s participation was part of a state visit to the Vatican, coinciding with the Jubilee, a sacred year of penance and forgiveness observed every quarter-century by the Catholic Church.
For King Charles, this visit comes amid challenges, as the royal family grapples with recent revelations concerning his brother, Prince Andrew, and his associations with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Under pressure from the King, Andrew has relinquished his title as the Duke of York. However, this trip also underscores one of the King’s long-held passions: promoting religious tolerance. He previously marked his first 100 days on the throne by visiting a Jewish community center in London and engaging in a traditional hora dance at a Hanukkah celebration. His 2023 coronation further showcased this commitment, as he welcomed leaders from various non-Christian faiths, including Judaism, Buddhism, and Sikhism.
Charles’s inclusive approach hasn’t always been without controversy. In 1994, years before his ascension, his comments about envisioning his role as a ‘defender of faith’ in a broader sense, reflecting Britain’s increasing diversity, stirred debate. He later clarified his stance, stating that while being ‘Defender of the Faith,’ he could also serve as a ‘protector of faiths.’
Later on Thursday, during a second ecumenical service at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, King Charles accepted the honorary title of Royal Confrater, a recognition of the enduring historical ties between the British monarchy and the Church. The Vatican even presented a specially designed chair for the King and his successors, adorned with the royal coat of arms and bearing the Latin inscription ‘Ut unum sint’—’That they may be one’—symbolizing their shared Christian heritage.
Cardinal James Harvey, archpriest of the basilica, emphasized during the service that the significance of the King’s visit could not be overstated, calling it a ‘soul-stirring new chapter’ in the long-standing relationship between the two churches.
Earlier in the day, the King and Queen held a private audience with Pope Leo XIV. King Charles also met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state. A Vatican statement confirmed that their discussions included shared concerns such as environmental protection and poverty alleviation.
Reverend Martin Browne, from the Vatican department dedicated to promoting Christian unity in Rome, noted that the services were designed to demonstrate ‘our closeness and willingness to see one another as brothers and sisters despite differences.’ He added, ‘That is clearly an important sign for the world, not just in terms of the ecumenical project but for humanity in general.’
Traditionally, the archbishop of Canterbury, as head of the Church of England, would have accompanied the King on such a visit. However, the Most Rev. Justin Welby resigned last November following a report that found he had failed to adequately investigate widespread clerical abuse claims. This month, the Right Rev. Sarah Mullally was appointed as the first woman to hold the role, with her official installation expected early next year.
The ordination of women remains a key theological difference between Anglican and Catholic traditions. While the Anglican Church has ordained women as priests since the 1970s, the Vatican maintains its practice of ordaining only men and has repeatedly postponed discussions regarding the ordination of women, even to lower-ranking deacon positions.
Archbishop Flavio Pace, secretary of the Vatican department for Christian unity, acknowledged at a recent press briefing that the ordination of Anglican women was a ‘potential problem.’ However, he stressed the greater urgency of mutual engagement, stating, ‘it is more urgent that we stay together, that we dialogue and that we continue to walk together.’
The Right Rev. Anthony Ball, the archbishop of Canterbury’s representative to the Holy See, indicated that Archbishop-designate Mullally is likely to meet Pope Leo once she formally assumes her role. He stated that ‘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.’
Anna Rowlands, a political theologian at Durham University in England, further elaborated that, in principle, there is no obstacle to the Pope conducting future prayer services with a female archbishop of Canterbury. ‘She will be, once installed, the head of a fellow Christian ecclesial community’ with which the Catholic Church maintains a relationship, Professor Rowlands explained.
Despite the joint prayer service, theological experts noted that Pope Leo’s and King Charles’s participation does not signal a convergence on all issues dividing their churches. Anglican priests are permitted to marry, and some Anglican churches welcome openly gay priests, whereas the Catholic Church upholds clerical celibacy and prohibits openly gay clergy. Similarly, divorced Catholics, whose marriages have not been annulled, are generally not permitted to remarry in a church service, a contrast to Anglican practice.
“We don’t have to change each other,” remarked the Very Rev. Andrew McGowan, a professor of Anglican studies at the Yale Divinity School.
Experts suggested it was improbable that either leader would raise these contentious topics during their discussions. Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a senior analyst at Religion News Service and a seasoned Vatican observer, likened it to avoiding sensitive subjects at a family dinner: “You know where everybody stands, and so the effort is to see where we can work together.”
The King’s visit was initially planned to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si, Pope Francis’s pivotal encyclical on the imperative to protect the planet’s health. Pope Leo has forcefully advocated for global efforts to ensure the poor do not bear the brunt of climate change, aligning with King Charles’s long-standing warnings about the existential threat posed by rising carbon emissions.