Pope and King Charles give mutual honors as sign of ‘spiritual communion’

Charles III and Leo XIV joined in an ecumenical ceremony focused on ecological issues at the Vatican's Sistine Chapel.

VATICAN CITY (PerMariam) — King Charles III and Pope Leo XIV joined for an historic ecumenical prayer service in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel today, as part of the King’s state visit to the Holy See.

In what has been billed by some as a significant development in ecumenical relations between the Church of England and the Catholic Church, today’s midday prayer service was attended by leaders from the religious and diplomatic sphere in the U.K. and the Vatican, and was dedicated to the “the protection of Nature and concern for the environment.”

Charles is supreme governor of the Church of England, a position held since the Protestant Revolt and break with Rome enacted by King Henry VIII in 1534. The King and Queen had been due to make a state visit to the Holy See in April, but postponed it due to Pope Francis’ ill health at the time.

The visit to the Holy See was described earlier this year as “an historic visit in the year of the Papal Jubilee, and will mark a significant step forward in relations between the Catholic Church and Church of England.”

Credit: Vatican Media.

For the ecumenical service, the Church of England’s current ranking clerical member – the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell – was present, given that the newly appointed female archbishop of Canterbury has not yet been installed.

Choir members from the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel were joined by those of the King’s choristers from Windsor Castle and St. James’s Palace.

Pope Leo and then Cottrell intoned the opening prayer before the choirs chanted psalms combining Catholic Gregorian Chant with the distinctive sound of the Anglican choral tradition of English choirs. The U.K.’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper read the scripture passage taken from St. Paul.

In closing the ceremony, Cottrell and Leo jointly led the final concluding prayer, with no formal papal blessing being given.

Details given by Buckingham Palace about the ceremony noted that the event’s ecological focus and “theme of ‘Care for Creation’,” were “reflecting Pope Leo’s and His Majesty’s commitment to the protection of Nature and concern for the environment.”

The Pope’s throne in the Sistine Chapel was not used, and instead Leo sat on one of four identical ornate chairs in front of the altar. Joining him was Cottrell, the King and Queen.

Despite the headlines carried by many secular outlets of the ceremony being the first joint prayer between the British monarch and the Pope in 500 years, it is actually believed to be the first since the 800’s. However, it is arguably the most significant ecumenical event since the Protestant revolt of the 1500’s, during which the Church of England broke away in schism from Rome.

Ecological unity and reciprocal brotherhood

Following the ceremony, Charles and Leo had a private meeting together furthering what is described as their joint, keen interest in climate issues.