WATCH: King Charles becomes first British monarch in 500 years to pray with Pope publicly

In a moment of historic religious and diplomatic significance, King Charles III, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, publicly prayed alongside Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Thursday.

The ceremony, held in the iconic Sistine Chapel, marked the first time a reigning British monarch has engaged in joint public prayer with a Catholic pontiff since King Henry VIII’s rupture with Rome nearly 500 years ago.

The 76-year-old monarch and Queen Camilla are on a state visit to the Holy See, which was described by Buckingham Palace as a “historic” trip aimed at strengthening rapprochement between the Anglican and Catholic churches.

The prayer service, broadcast live by the Vatican, was led by Pope Leo XIV, the US pontiff who assumed leadership of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics in May. He was joined by the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, currently the senior cleric in the Church of England.

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The service itself blended Catholic and Anglican traditions, featuring a joint choir performance by the Sistine Chapel choir and the choir from Saint George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. Reflecting one of the King’s lifelong passions, the ceremony was centered on themes of conservation and protecting the environment.

Watch the video here:

King Charles III assisting the Divine Office led by Pope Leo XIV in the Sistine Chapel, the first time a British monarch has partaken in a religious service with the Bishop of Rome since 855, when Æthelwulf, King of Wessex, was in Rome for the inauguration of Pope Leo IV. pic.twitter.com/L1qc22jaqk

— Catholic Sat (@CatholicSat) October 23, 2025

Earlier in the day, the King and Queen were greeted with a ceremonial guard of honour by the Swiss Guard before holding their first private meeting with Pope Leo in the papal library.

Mending a 500-year schism

The public prayer marked a profound step in healing the schism initiated by King Henry VIII in the 16th century, which established the English monarch as the head of the separate Church of England.

While significant theological differences—such as the Anglican church’s decision to ordain women and allow priests to marry—remain, the relationship has warmed considerably. The King’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, became the first British monarch to visit the Holy See since the split in 1961, and a law change in 2013 removed the disqualification for a monarch marrying a Catholic.

In a further gesture of reconciliation and respect for historic ties, King Charles and Queen Camilla are also scheduled to attend a service at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, one of Rome’s major papal basilicas. There, the King is to be made a “Royal Confrater” of the basilica and presented with a specially designed seat for use by future British monarchs.