King Charles and Pope Leo in historic prayer service at Sistine Chapel
King Charles and Pope Leo XIV held a historic joint prayer service in the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, the first time a British monarch and a Pope have prayed together publicly since the Reformation and a sign of reconciliation and unity. The King, as the supreme governor of the Church of England, and Queen Camilla, known for her close association with Catholicism, were seated in front of the altar, alongside the Pope and the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell. Together, they took part in an ecumenical service which was a landmark in relations between the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches, made possible after years of dialogue, and a significant moment in the Catholic church’s Year of Jubilee, a time of renewal.
The 20 minute service took the care of creation as its theme, a cause close to the King’s heart. There was no joint kneeling at the altar. The King and Queen joined in congregational responses which lasted a matter of seconds. At the start, they said: “For you created all things, and by your will make existed and were created”. At the end, Pope Leo said this prayer: God our Father, you have created the heavens and the earth and made us in your own image. Teach us to see your hand in all your works and your likeness in all your children. Through Christ our Lord. Amen”, and the congregation said the grace. The foreign secretary Yvette Cooper, read the lesson Romans 8 verses 22-27, from the King James version beloved of the King, speaking of hope from the bondage of corruption: “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now”.
Afterwards, the King and Queen attended an ecumenical service in the Papal Basilica and Abbey of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, where the King became “Royal Confrater” of the Abbey of St. Paul. He was given a specially created seat, a gift of “confraternity”, spiritual fellowship, symbolising the link between the monarchy and the Basilica, where by tradition, reconciliation and ecumenism are celebrated.
View the service at the Sistine Chapel here
View our briefing discussing the significance of the day here
Two men charged over Peacehaven mosque attack
Sussex police say two men have been charged in connection with an arson attack on Peacehaven mosque, on the Sussex coast. A statement says: “Following extensive enquiries, two men – Ricky Ryder, 38, of Richington Way in Seaford, and Jack Slowey, 34, of Mayfield Avenue in Peacehaven – have been charged with arson with intent to endanger life”. The men will appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court today, Friday 24 October. A 42-year-old man from Peacehaven who was arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life has been released on conditional bail.
£10 million security funding for British Muslims
The Prime Minister has announced an additional £10m in security funding to protect Muslim communities from hate crimes and attacks. It will provide mosques and Muslim centres with CCTV, alarm systems, secure fencing and security staff. Keir Starmer made the announcement during a visit to Peacehaven mosque in Sussex, which was the target of an arson attack while two people were inside the building. The chief executive of the British Muslim Trust, Akeela Ahmed, welcomed the security funding, saying that everyone deserves to live their life peacefully and without the threat of fear and intimidation. Home Office statistics show that anti-Muslim hate crimes increased by 19 per cent in the year ending March 2025, a period which included the Southport attacks and subsequent riots. 44 per cent of all religious hate crimes have targeted Muslims.
Badenoch says expel protesters who threatened a Jewish lecturer with beheading
The Conservative leader has condemned protesters who targeted Michael Ben-Gad, economics professor at City St George’s, University of London, interrupting his lecture on Wednesday, threatening to behead him, shouting that he was a war criminal and Nazi, displaying banners calling for the removal of all Zionists from the university and calling for him to be sacked. Kemi Badenoch gave interviews to the Jewish News and Jewish Chronicle comparing the protesters to “modern-day Brownshirts” saying it is “out and out antisemitism.” She said there needed to be expulsions and visas revoked if the protesters were not from this country, adding that this behaviour will not be tolerated. Sky News reports that Professor Ben-Gad was conscripted to serve in IDF in the 1980s and quotes him saying he had taught at the university for 20 years and it was a small radical group responsible. He defended his military service and was proud to have been part of the IDF as Israel is a “country at war”.
Developer lodges appeal to build tower block next to Britain’s oldest synagogue
The developer refused permission to build a 43-storey office block next to Britain’s oldest synagogue, Bevis Marks in the City of London, has lodged an appeal to have the decision overturned. The developer is Welput, managed by American investment firm BGO, and the plans involve demolishing the adjacent Bury House on Bury Street. They first tried a development plan in 2021, then came back last year with a slightly lower design. The scheme has been opposed by 1000 people including the chief rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, and historians Sir Simon Schama, Tom Holland and Simon Sebag Montefiore. The City of London Corporation rejected the last proposal by 14 votes to eight, but the developer has not given up and has lodged an appeal with the Secretary of State. Rabbi Shalom Morris said it was an “inappropriate tower proposal” and would block out light for six months of the year. He suggested the appeal had little chance of success. Jewish News report here
JD Vance prays for peace at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
US vice president JD Vance and his wife, Usha, attended a private Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem yesterday, during a three-day diplomatic trip to Israel. According to tradition, the church is built on the site of Jesus’ resurrection and is a centre for Christian pilgrimage. JD Vance is a convert to Catholicism and prayed at The Stone of Anointing and before the Calvary Altar, lighting candles to take back to the White House. He asked Christians to pray for peace and for a “miracle in this region of the world.”
How the Canterbury Cathedral graffiti art exhibition went viral and fed the culture wars
The graffiti art exhibition in Canterbury Cathedral, with vinyl stickers displayed on ancient pillars and stones asking questions of faith, has enraged Christian traditionalists and Maga supporters, who say it’s inappropriate, abhorrent, out of place in the building and not in line with the Christian witness of the church. While its supporters say it’s an attempt to engage people with Christianity, expression of ideas by a new generation, intentionally provocative and a message for the modern age. The BBC Radio 4 programme “Antisocial” explored the arguments, with the Anglican priest Rev Dr Charlie Bączyk-Bell and Bijan Omrani, author of God is an Englishman. The graffiti debate went viral and fed the culture wars, with US Vice President JD Vance, who called the stickers “ugly”, and Elon Musk, who called it an affront to western civilisation. Listen to the programme here
New Bishop of Taunton
The next Bishop of Taunton is to be Dr Fiona Gibson, currently the Archdeacon of Ludlow, a former primary school teacher, parish priest, chair of the Junia Network supporting ordained evangelical Anglican women, general synod member and chair of the revision committee for the national redress scheme for abuse survivors. The Church Times says her doctorate was on the subject of sloth, one of the seven deadly sins, and quotes her saying that this is “the sin you’ve probably never heard of but are almost certainly committing”.
‘Nunmania’ in Spain as young women flock to holy orders
The Spanish pop star Rosalia has launched her new album Lux with a cover showing her wearing a white habit, an example of a trend named by El Pais as “nunmania”. Other examples are the film Los Domingos, telling the story of a teenage girl who shocks her secular family by announcing she intends to enter a convent; the podcast Las hijas de Felipe, where the cloistered life of nuns in the 17th century has gone viral; and the accompanying book Convent Wisdom: How Sixteenth-Century Nuns Can Save Your Life, on lessons learned about budgeting and dealing with “creativity slumps”. The Times reports polling from the Spanish company CIS, suggesting that 38.5 per cent of young people aged 18-24 consider themselves Catholic, a rise of five per cent in five years, and it points to church statistics saying some orders of nuns are full of young women, following years of decline. Times story is here
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