VATICAN CITY (FN) — King Charles III is set to become the first British monarch in five centuries to publicly pray with a pope, marking a historic moment in relations between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.
Charles and Queen Camilla will arrive Wednesday for a two-day state visit to the Vatican, where they will meet Pope Leo XIV for the first time since his election in May. On Thursday, the king and pontiff will participate in an ecumenical service at the Sistine Chapel, the first such public religious act between the two churches since King Henry VIII’s split from Rome in the 16th century.
Buckingham Palace said the visit “marks a significant moment in relations between the Catholic Church and Church of England, of which His Majesty is Supreme Governor.”
The service, held beneath Michelangelo’s famed ceiling, will focus on environmental conservation — a cause long championed by Charles. Choirs from the Sistine Chapel and Saint George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle will perform together, symbolizing unity between the denominations.
The king will also attend a second ecumenical service at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, where he will be formally recognized as a “Royal Confrater” of the adjoining abbey. A custom seat will be installed for Charles and reserved for future British monarchs.
“This is a historic event principally because the king is supreme governor of the Church of England and required by law to be a Protestant,” said William Gibson, professor of theology at Oxford Brookes University. He noted that formal diplomatic ties between the United Kingdom and the Holy See were only restored in 1914, with the mission upgraded to an embassy in 1982.
The visit coincides with preparations for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year, held every 25 years, which draws millions of pilgrims to Rome.
It also comes amid renewed scrutiny of the royal family following the release of a posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre, who alleges she was trafficked by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew, Charles’s younger brother, on multiple occasions.
Andrew announced Friday he would relinquish his title as Duke of York, reportedly under pressure from Charles. He had previously stepped back from royal duties in 2019.
Charles, 76, continues to receive treatment for cancer, which was publicly disclosed in early 2024. He previously visited the Vatican several times and met privately with Pope Francis in April, days before the pontiff’s death.
Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to visit the Holy See in 1961, centuries after the schism between the churches.
