King Charles and Pope Leo will pray together at the Signine Chapel, officials say. Here’s why it’s history.
The Catholic Church and the Church of England will take a historic step toward unity next week when Britain’s King Charles III and Pope Leo XIV, said Pope Leo XIV, officials said Friday.
The two churches have been separated for centuries by the problems they now face the ordination of women priestswhich the Catholic Church forbids. Prayer for the Ecumenical Service on Oct. 23 will note for the first time since the Reformation, in the 16th century, that the heads of two Christian churches prayed together. This service will receive a shared concern for the care of God’s creation.
Buckingham Palace and Vatican officials on Friday announced details of a two-day visit by Charles and Queen Camilla on Oct. 22-23. The visit was originally planned for April but was later postponed The final illness of Pope Francisbefore his death.
Charles, who is the titular Head of the Church of England, strongly wanted to visit the Vatican in the year 2025 throughout the year, the centenary celebration of Christianity. In doing so, she follows in her late mother’s footsteps, Queen Elizabeth IIwho visited during the 2000 Jubilee, said Monsor Flavio Pace, secretary of the Vatican office for promoting Christian unity.
On that visit, Queen Elizabeth’s proposal to pray with the pope was postponed out of concern it would upset groups throughout the church in England, the Guardian reported at the time.
During his visit, Charles will be given a new title and official recognition at the powerful Pontifical Basilica, a ritual that takes place in the Church of England, St. Paul outside the walls. The title of “Royal Converter” is a symbol of spiritual relationship and will be given to Charles and a special chair decorated with his coat of arms that will remain in the Basilica for Charles and his heirs to use, officials said.
Anglicans broke away from the Catholic Church in 1534 when the English king Henry VIII was forbidden to propose marriage. While the popes for decades found a warm relationship with the Church of England and the wider Anglican communion on the way to greater unity, the two churches were always divided by problems.
Very, the Archbishop of Canterbury-Demignete, Sarah Mullallyhe will not join the king and queen because he is not officially installed as a leader of the Church of England. She is the first woman to hold this position, which is considered the first among the equality of the wider Anglican communion, which has more than 85 million members spread over 165 countries.
In his place, the bishop of Nork will preside over Leo at the Signine Chapel Service, which will include songs sung by members of the Royal Choir.
Speed teased the question of whether the SIDIne Chapel service would reveal itself as the schedule was mellally on time and the king and queen joined in attendance. He noted the joint statements of the Catholic and Anglican churches that acknowledged their differences over the ordination of women but insisted that such barriers should not prevent doctrinal dialogue.
Charles and Camilla’s trip was originally planned for April as part of a joint Victoria-Italy State visit. After Francis fell ill, the king and queen continued their planned four-day leg in Italy, briefly greeting Francis at the Vatican a few weeks before he died.
