Britain's King Charles III and Pope Leo XIV united in groundbreaking prayers in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel during the king’s visit to the Holy See on Thursday.
The service was the first time the heads of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England have prayed together in nearly 500 years since the split from Rome.
This “joining of hands” included an introduction by Pope Leo and the Archbishop of York, as well as a reading from the Letter to the Romans by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.
The King and his consort sat together a few metres from Pope Leo at the front of the congregation which featured ranks of cardinals.
During the short service, Pope Leo led the symbolic moment with the words: “Let us pray.” The 30-minute service mixed contributions from the Catholic and Anglican traditions.
It is the King and Queen Camilla's first state visit to the Holy See since Pope Leo's election in May. Leo is expected to travel to Turkey and Lebanon in November in his first foreign visit as pontiff.
Two royal British choirs – including children from the Chapel Royal – performed alongside the Sistine Chapel Choir. They sang the 16th century English anthem If Ye Love Me by Thomas Tallis and Psalms.
Since Henry VIII broke with Rome to establish the Church of England in the 16th century, the two faiths were the cornerstone of mutual distrust between the English state and the papacy.
The ecumenical movement has seen both seek closer ties as part of a drive towards worldwide Christian unity that began in the 20th century.
Gifts and titles
King Charles and Queen Camilla met Pope Leo in the morning, before the service in the library, after which they exchanged gifts.
The King brought a large silver photograph and icon of St Edward the Confessor. The Pope presented a scale mosaic made in the Vatican that replicates the Sicilian mosaic of Christ Pantocrator at the Norman Cathedral of Cefalu.
After the service, King Charles and Pope Leo moved to the Sala Regia, a state hall, where they discussed efforts to support sustainability and nature.
They met representatives from climate organisations and private sector leaders who have been working in the King’s Sustainable Markets Initiative, and exchange trees to be planted.
King Charles was recognised as a spiritual fellow of the Roman Catholic Church, known as a Royal Confrater of the Abbey of St Paul’s in a ceremony at the abbey. A seat displaying the royal coat of arms was created for the ceremony and as a gift to the king.
In return, Pope Leo became a Papal Confrater of St George's Chapel, Windsor.
King Charles received a papal knighthood and made Pope Leo a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.
Queen Camilla is meeting Catholic Sisters from the International Union of Superiors General, to hear about their work, often in war zones and hostile environments.
