King Charles, Pope Leo pray together in historic first
VATICAN CITY
King Charles III became the first head of the Church of England on Thursday to pray publicly with a pope in a Vatican service led by Leo XIV.
The ceremony in the Sistine Chapel, broadcast live by the Vatican's official news service, came during a state visit by the 76-year-old monarch and his wife Queen Camilla.
It was the first time a reigning English or British monarch has prayed publicly with a pope since English king Henry VIII broke with Rome 500 years ago.
Triggered by the then pope's refusal to annul Henry's marriage so he could marry another woman, the schism made the monarch head of the separate Church of England.
Charles and Camilla earlier had their first meeting with Pope Leo, who took over as head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics in May following the death of Pope Francis.
The U.S. pontiff led the service beneath Michelangelo's spectacular ceiling frescoes with the archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, currently the senior cleric of the Church of England.
Charles and Camilla sat at the front of the chapel alongside the pope and the archbishop, facing an audience including Catholic and Anglican clerics, politicians and diplomats.
The service brought together Catholic and Anglican traditions, with the choir from the Sistine Chapel joined by that from Saint George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, one of the king's residences.
It was centered on conservation and protecting the environment, a cause long championed by Charles.
The break with Rome created a schism that remains to this day, even if there has been a significant rapprochement in recent decades.
In 1961, the late Queen Elizabeth II, Charles's mother, became the first British monarch to visit the Holy See since the split.
The law was changed in 2013 so that marrying a Catholic would no longer disqualify someone from becoming monarch, although they still have to be a Protestant themselves.
