King Charles and Pope Leo pray together in historic first
In a historic first, Britain’s King Charles and Pope Leo prayed together at the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel on Thursday, marking the first joint worship between an English monarch and a Catholic pope since King Henry VIII broke from Rome in 1534.
The service, led by Pope Leo and Anglican Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, featured Latin chants and English prayers echoing under Michelangelo’s frescoes depicting the Last Judgment, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
King Charles, supreme governor of the Church of England, sat beside the pope near the altar, while the Sistine Chapel Choir joined two royal choirs in the ceremonial music.
Although Charles has met previous popes, and Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI visited Britain, none of these meetings included shared prayers. The King and Queen Camilla are on a state visit to the Vatican to celebrate closer ties between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, five centuries after their turbulent separation.
The split between the Catholic Church and the Church of England was formalized in 1534, after Pope Clement VII refused to annul King Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Henry’s quest for a male heir, coupled with the crown’s seizure of church assets and the rise of Protestantism in England, drove the break. In the decades that followed, England oscillated between Catholicism and Protestantism, with hundreds executed for their faith.
The service also highlighted a historic milestone for the Anglican Church. Archbishop Cottrell stood in for Sarah Mullally, recently named as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion. She will officially take office next year.
This unprecedented gathering signals a new chapter in relations between the Vatican and the British monarchy, blending centuries of history with modern reconciliation.
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