Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III pray together in the Sistine Chapel during a historic meeting at the Vatican, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025.
(Credit: Vatican Media)
CT News
Oct. 24, 2025 : History was made in the Sistine Chapel on Thursday Oct. 23, as Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III prayed side by side, marking the first time since the Protestant Reformation that a reigning British monarch and a pope have prayed together during a royal state visit to the Vatican. This was a historic moment for Anglican-Catholic relations, marking the first time in 500 years that the Pope prayed alongside the King of England.
The service brought together clergy and choirs from both churches. The choirs sang “Come, Holy Ghost, Who Ever One,” a hymn by St. Ambrose translated into English by St. John Henry Newman.
During the prayer, the choirs sang verses of Psalms 8 and 64 in Latin and English. A reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (8:22–27) was read aloud before Pope Leo and Cottrell offered the closing prayer together in English.
Cardinals, bishops, and Anglican representatives attended the prayer service, which was the highlight of the king’s first state visit to the Holy See since his accession in 2022.
The day included a private meeting between the two leaders in the Apostolic Palace and an ecumenical service in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, where King Charles was conferred the title of Royal Confrater of Saint Paul.
Pope Leo will declare Newman, the 19th-century English cardinal and Anglican convert, a doctor of the Church on Nov. 1. King Charles attended Newman’s canonization in 2019 and recently became the first British monarch to visit the Birmingham Oratory, which Newman founded in 1848.
King Charles visited the Vatican several times as Prince of Wales, including for the funeral of John Paul II and for Newman’s canonization. His last papal audience was with Pope Francis in April, shortly before Francis’ death, though that was not an official state visit.
Queen Elizabeth II, Charles’ mother, met five popes during her 70-year reign but never participated in a public prayer with any of them.
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