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Pope Leo XIV prays with King Charles III in an unprecedented service since the Anglican schism

Charles III is the first British monarch to pray publicly with a pope in more than 500 years.

Pope Leo XIV during a meeting with King Charles III of Great Britain.

Pope Leo XIV during a meeting with King Charles III of Great Britain.AFP/Vatican Media.

Carlos Dominguez
Published by
Carlos Dominguez

King Charles III on Thursday became the first British monarch since the Anglican schism five centuries ago to pray publicly with a pope, joining Pope Leo XIV in the Sistine Chapel.

The ceremony blended Catholic and Anglican traditions, symbolizing a renewed rapprochement between the two Churches. The 30-minute service marked an act unseen since the birth of Anglicanism in 1534, when King Henry VIII broke from Rome.

Pope Leo XIV and the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, presided over the celebration, attended by Catholic and Anglican prelates, along with political and diplomatic leaders.

The central theme of the prayer was the protection of nature, highlighting the growing convergence between the two Churches on environmental issues.

A few minutes earlier, Pope Leo XIV had received the monarch—who serves as the supreme governor of the Church of England—in a private audience. King Charles III, accompanied by Queen Camilla, spoke to the pope in English in a cordial atmosphere and exchanged gifts with him, according to images released by the Vatican.

The monarch will be named "Royal Brotherhood"

King Charles III and Queen Camilla are scheduled to attend another ecumenical service on Thursday at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome.

At that event, the king will be named a royal confrere. A special seat has been created for the monarch, which will remain in the basilica and may be used by his successors on the British throne.

This gesture symbolizes an ecumenical rapprochement unprecedented since the Protestant Reformation.

The British Crown and Pope Francis

The royal couple met privately with Pope Leo XIV’s predecessor, Pope Francis, last April 9, just 12 days before the Argentine pontiff’s death.

During the meeting, the pope offered his good wishes to the British monarchs on their wedding anniversary and thanked them for their messages wishing him a speedy recovery, as he was then recovering from severe pneumonia.

At the Argentine Jesuit’s funeral, Charles III was represented by his son, Prince William, and later by his brother, Prince Edward, at Leo XIV’s enthronement Mass on May 18.

The long road to reconciliation

The Anglican Church was founded in 1534 following a split provoked by King Henry VIII of England, who broke with the pope after his request to annul his marriage to Catalina of Aragon was denied.

In 1961, Charles III's mother, Isabel II, became the first British monarch to visit the Vatican since the schism between Catholics and Anglicans.

The United Kingdom did not establish an embassy to the Vatican until 1982. 

In 2013, laws were relaxed to allow members of the royal family who marry Catholics to retain their place in the order of succession. Prior to this change, those who married Catholics had to renounce all claims to the throne.

Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church ordains women and allows priests to marry.

For the first time in its history, the Anglican Church has appointed a woman as its highest authority: Sarah Mullally, a 63-year-old mother, who will officially assume her duties in January 2026.

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