King Charles will become the first British monarch in 500 years to pray in public with a pope when he makes a historic visit to the Vatican City next week.

 

 

 

The 76-year-old monarch will take part in an ecumenical service in the Sistine Chapel with Pope Leo XIV as they mark the Catholic Church’s 2025 ‘Jubilee year’.

 

 

 

 

Buckingham Palace says it is the first time since Henry VIII’s Reformation of the 1530s that a sovereign – and Head of the Church of England – has taken part in a public act of worship with the leader of the Catholic Church.

 

 

 

In recognition of his lifetime of campaigning on issues of inter-faith harmony, Pope Leo will make Charles a ‘Royal Confrater’ of the Papal Basilica and Abbey of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls.

 

 

 

 

In further celebration of this new bond, a special seat has been created for His Majesty, which will remain in the Basilica as a perpetual mark of mutual respect between Pope Leo and the King as Heads of State.

 

 

 

 

The special chair is decorated with His Majesty’s Coat of Arms and will be used by the King during the service, after which it will remain in the apse of the Basilica for future use by the monarch and his heirs and successors.

 

 

 

The King’s short visit with Queen Camilla will take place on Wednesday and Thursday but is, nevertheless, loaded with symbolism.

 

 

 

It will be their first meeting with Pope Leo since his election in May. The couple met briefly with the previous incumbent, Pope Francis, when they visited in April, but had to cancel several planned engagements due to his ill health.

 

 

 

Traditionally marked every 25 years, the Jubilee is a special time for the Catholic Church.

 

 

 

The visit will also mark a significant moment in relations between the Catholic Church and the Church of England, of which His Majesty is Supreme Governor.

 

 

 

 

Buckingham Palace said it would be the first State Visit since the Reformation ‘where the Pope and the Monarch will pray together in an ecumenical service in the Sistine Chapel, and the first time the Monarch will have attended a service in St Paul’s Outside the Walls, a church with an historic connection to the English Crown’.

 

 

 

The King and Queen will meet Pope Leo in the Apostolic Palace, as well as Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State.

 

 

 

Her Majesty will also view the Pauline Chapel, which houses Michaelangelo’s

last two frescoes of St Peter and St Paul.