King Charles, Pope Leo make history as they pray together in 500-year first
Anglican Archbishop Cottrell of York attended Sarah Mullally’s Sistine Chapel ceremony. She was recently announced as the first woman to serve as the Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, but she will not assume the role until next year.
The split between the Catholic Church and the Church of England was resolved by Pope Gregory VII. Clement’s King Henry VIII. It became official in 1534, after Henry refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
King Charles III, second from right, and Queen Camilla, from right, attend joint prayer with Pope Leo XIV in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican.Credit: access point
Henry’s desire for a male heir – and a new wife who could provide it – was the direct catalyst, but other factors were also at play, such as the English crown’s seizure of church assets and the development of Protestant ideas in England.
As England oscillated between Catholicism and Protestantism during the reigns of Henry’s daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I, hundreds of Catholics and Protestants were executed, often burned at the stake, for their beliefs.
Charles will receive special title and sit in the basilica
Charles and Camilla, who visited the Vatican to see Pope Francis earlier this year, also had a private meeting with Leo on Thursday morning. Back home in Britain, Charles’ disgraced brother Prince Andrew is plunged into a deepening crisis over allegations of abuse and his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In the afternoon, the King visited St. Outside the Walls, one of Rome’s four most revered churches in Catholicism. Paul’s Basilica. Here Leo approved the granting of himself a new title of “Royal Brother” or brother in the associated monastery.
King of Britain III. Charles and Queen Camilla pose with Pope Leo XIV as they meet at the Vatican during an official visit.Credit: access point
Charles will also be gifted a special seat in the apse of the basilica. The wooden chair, reserved for future use only by British monarchs, is decorated with the king’s coat of arms and the ecumenical motto “Ut unum sint” (May they be one).
Bishop Anthony Ball, the Vatican’s official Anglican representative, said these awards “demonstrate the commitment that both our Churches must work for a common future.”
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Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday that Charles had also approved two British honors for Leo: him at St. Louis. making St. George’s Chapel the “Ponpal Sister” of Windsor Castle and awarding it the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Baths.
Anglican-Catholic ties have been developing since the 1960s
The Church of England is one of 46 autonomous churches in approximately 165 countries that make up the Anglican Communion.
The Catholic Church, which has 1.4 billion members, and the Anglican Communion, which has 85 million members, have been developing their relations since the 1960s.
The teachings of the two traditions overlap on many important issues, but the Catholic Church does not ordain women and generally does not allow priests to marry.
Reuters
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