King Charles and Queen Camilla Have Historic Audience with Pope Leo

In a historic first, King Charles is to pray alongside Pope Leo after their meeting at the Vatican.

The King is to take part in a solemn ecumenical service alongside the Pope in the Sistine Chapel during a spiritual high-point of his day-long visit to the Vatican on Thursday, Oct. 23.

The service, taking place under the magnificent Michelangelo ceiling, is the first time a British monarch has prayed with a Pope in public since the Reformation in the 16th Century.

The day began for Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, with a joint audience with the pontiff. The couple drove through famous St. Peter’s Square and arrived at the San Damaso Courtyard, the ceremonial entrance to the Apostolic Palace, where they were welcomed to the papal Apostolic Palace by Rev. Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza.

They were then taken inside for their first audience with Pope Leo. Afterwards, in the Pope’s Library, they exchanged gifts. Charles handed his host a large, silver framed photograph and an icon of St. Edward the Confessor. Pope Leo, meanwhile, presented the King with a scale version of the mosaic of ‘Christ Pantocrator,” that’s in a cathedral in Cefalu, Sicily.

Their visit comes during the 2025 Jubilee Year, marked every 25 years, and is said by Buckingham Palace to be a “significant moment” in relations between the Catholic Church and Church of England, of which Charles is Supreme Governor.

Stressing Christian unity and care for the environment, the visit also recognizes the “ecumenical work they have undertaken and reflecting the Jubilee year’s theme of walking together as ‘Pilgrims of Hope.’ ”

After meeting some of the key cardinals at the Vatican, Charles and Camilla then headed to the Sistine Chapel for the service that was designed to underline the harmony between the two churches. It was here that Charles and Pope Leo prayed together — the first time a monarch and Pope has done so in public for around 500 years.

The ecumenical service featured the Children of the Choir of His Majesty’s Chapel Royal and the Choir of St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, accompanied by the Sistine Chapel Choir.

The King, 76, and Camilla, 78, are fulfilling a commitment that was originally scheduled during Charles’ visit to Rome in April. But by the time he was in Italy, Pope Francis was ailing, and they were not able to fulfill their commitments. They did meet Francis briefly on April 9, but he died on April 21. Pope Leo, the first American-born leader of the global Catholic Church, was elected in a conclave of cardinals in May.

After the ecumenical service, Camilla stayed at the chapel to meet the choirs, while King Charles and the Pope joined a meeting about sustainability in the Sala Regia [a state hall in the Apostolic Palace].

The couple will then leave the Pope and the Holy See, and visit the Papal Basilica and Abbey of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, where Charles has been made “Royal Confrater” of the Abbey.

That is a recognition from the Pope of spiritual fellowship, and to celebrate that bond, he will bestow upon him the gift of the special chair. It will remain in the apse of the Basilica for future use by the King and his heirs and successors.

Later in the day, the King is expected to attend a reception at the Pontifical Beda College, a seminary which trains priests from across the Commonwealth. Camilla, meanwhile, will meet six Catholic Sisters from the International Union of Superiors General. The Sisters are working around the world to support female empowerment through girls’ education programs and improved access to healthcare, a subject close to Queen Camilla’s heart.

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The American-born and raised pope showed his desire to build close relations with King Charles when he sent a heartfelt message to the British royal family as they gathered for the Catholic funeral of the Duchess of Kent in September.