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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe service, held beneath Michelangelo\u2019s famed ceiling, will focus on environmental conservation \u2014 a cause long championed by Charles. Choirs from the Sistine Chapel and Saint George\u2019s Chapel at Windsor Castle will perform together, symbolizing unity between the denominations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 \u201cRoyal Confrater\u201d of the adjoining abbey. A custom seat will be installed for Charles and reserved for future British monarchs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a historic event principally because the king is supreme governor of the Church of England and required by law to be a Protestant,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The visit coincides with preparations for the Catholic Church\u2019s Jubilee Year, held every 25 years, which draws millions of pilgrims to Rome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s younger brother, on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to visit the Holy See in 1961, centuries after the schism between the churches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
VATICAN CITY (FN) \u2014 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, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[86,84,83,79,80,81,87,85,78],"class_list":["post-21771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international","tag-basilica-of-saint-paul-outside-the-walls","tag-buckingham-palace","tag-catholic-church","tag-king-charles-iii","tag-pope-leo-xiv","tag-queen-camilla","tag-queen-elizabeth-ii","tag-rome","tag-vatican-city"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/King-Charles-III-meets-emergency-service-personnel-at-Greater-Manchester-Police-Headquarters-in-Manchester-northwest-England-on-October-20-2025.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21778,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21771\/revisions\/21778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}