By Catherine Pepinster
The state visit of the King and Queen Camilla to the Vatican to meet Pope Leo on Thursday (23 October) will be an historic occasion – the monarch and the leader of the Roman Catholic Church will pray together in the Sistine Chapel.
Reports of the planned encounter stress that this is the first time a British monarch and pontiff have prayed alongside one another since the Reformation, when Henry VIII split away from the Roman Catholic Church and created the Church of England. But it is also unlikely that a pre-Reformation Catholic monarch would have done so.
The King, who is Supreme Governor of the Church of England will participate in an ecumenical service in the Sistine Chapel that will focus on the themes of Christian unity and care for creation – long an interest of the King, and also a major concern of recent popes.
The service will be jointly led by Pope Leo and the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, and will also feature the children of the Choir of His Majesty’s Chapel Royal and the Choir of St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, accompanied by the Sistine Chapel Choir.
Later, King Charles and Queen Camilla will visit the Papal Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls, long associated with the week of Christian Unity, where a service is held each year with the Pope and leading Anglican clergy officiating. The King will be given the title of Royal Confrater of St Paul and a special chair has been made for him, which will be used by him and his successors when they visit the Basilica.
The Basilica and its adjoining Benedictine abbey have a long pre-Reformation tradition of being associated with the English crown and the abbey’s coat of arms includes the insignia of the Order of the Garter, the royal medieval order of chivalry.
After the service, the King is expected to attend a reception at the Beda College, a Catholic seminary which prepares priests from across the Commonwealth for ordination.
The Queen will also meet six Catholic Sisters from the International Union of Superiors General whose orders work on girls’ education and healthcare across the globe.
This will the first time that the King will meet Pope Leo since his election in May. The state visit of the King was cancelled earlier in the year when Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, was seriously ill. But the King and Queen then made a private visit to see Pope Francis, just before he died.
While the King has a significant role as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, he will be visiting Rome in his capacity as head of state. Like all other state visits, they are carried out on behalf of the government, and the Foreign Office has recognised for some time that the Holy See – the governmental entity that compasses the Vatican – is a useful ally on many key issues for the UK.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: “His Majesty’s visit will therefore strengthen the UK’s relationship with this crucial and influential partner, helping to deliver on the Government’s priorities – from promoting peace and security around the world to working with our international partners to tackle climate change.”
Timeline of Anglican / Roman Catholic relations over 500 years:
1509: Henry VIII succeeds his father, Henry VII, as king, at the age of 17
1519: Henry writes In Defence of the Seven Sacraments, a riposte to the Protestant reformer, Martin Luther
1521: Pope Leo XI awards Henry the title of Fidei Defensor, Defender of the Faith, for his rebuttal of Luther.
1534: Henry VIII breaks away from the Roman Catholic Church in frustration at the Pope not giving him annulment of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon. Henry goes ahead, divorces Katherine, marries Anne Boleyn and creates the Church of England. The Act of Royal Supremacy declares Henry and his heirs as Supreme Head of the Church of England, replacing the Pope.
1535: Oath of Supremacy – anyone holding public office has to swear allegiance to Henry as head of the Church of England. Well-known Catholics such as Thomas More and Bishop John fisher refuse and are executed.
1559: After years of turbulence, with Henry succeeded by his Protestant son, Edward VI (1547), then the Catholic Mary (1553), the Protestant Elizabeth I accedes to the throne and in 1559 under the Act of Settlement, is made Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the title still used.
1570-71: Pope Pius V declares Elizabeth I a heretic and excommunicates here. Any Catholic obeying her would be also excommunicated while challenging her as Supreme Head is declare treason in England.
1605: Gunpowder Plot of several Catholic conspirators opposed to the Protestant James I is thwarted.
1688: James II, brother of Charles II and a Catholic convert, inherits the throne.
1688-9: The Glorious Revolution – the Catholic James II is deposted and the Protestant William of Orange becomes William III. Bill of Rights bans Catholics from the throne.
1701: Act of Settlement confirms the ban on a Catholic or anyone married to a Catholic succeeding to the throne.
1702: Queen Anne’s coronation with words rejecting the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation
1714: After Anne dies with no surviving children, 50 Catholics with claims to the throne are rejected in favour of the Electress Sophia of Hanover and her descendants. Sophia’s son becomes George I.
1785: The Prince of Wales, later George IV, marries the Catholic widow Maria Fitzherbert in secret, breaking the terms of the Act of Settlement
1830: Waterloo Chamber in Windsor Castle created to mark the defeat of Napoleon, with portraits of Britain’s allies in the cause, including Pope Pius VII. By then, Catholic emancipation, allowing freedom of worship and holding of public offices has been permitted for Catholics.
1845-52: Irish famine, leading to large numbers of Irish migrants to Britain and the development of Catholic communities, schools and churches. Catholic epicopal hierarchy restored.
1903: Edward VII after being advised not to make a visit as monarch to Rome, makes a private visit to Pope Leo XIII.
1906 While Catholics cannot marry ‘in’ to the Royal Family, members can get special permission to marry ‘out’ into a Catholic royal family, Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, granddaughter of Queen Victoria and niece of Edward VII, marries King Alfonso XIII of Spain and converts to Roman Catholicism.
1910 Edward VII makes a visit to the Catholic pilgrimage town of Lourdes, and dies weeks later; continuing speculation that he became a Roman Catholic on his deathbed.
1923: George V and Queen Mary visit Pius XI in Rome
1951: Princess Elizabeth visits Pius XII in Rome, a year before her accession
1961: Elizabeth II visits Pope John XXIII in Rome
1980: Elizabeth II visits John Paul II in Rome
1982: John Paul II makes a pastoral visit to the UK and visits the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, attends an ecumenical service with the Pope at Canterbury Cathedral. Objections from Scottish churchmen. The first time a pope has visited Britain.
1985: Prince Charles and Princess Diana visit John Paul II in Rome. A plan for the couple to attend a private Mass with the Pope is thwarted by Elizabeth II.
1993: Elizabeth II attends the Roman Catholic funeral Mass of King Baudouin of the Belgians in Brussels; she never publicly attended a Roman Catholic Mass in the UK.
1994:The Duchess of Kent converts to Roman Catholicism, requiring permission of Elizabeth II to do so.
1994: Prince Charles is interviewed by Jonathan Dimbleby on TV and tells him that it is difficult to uphold the Protestant religion in a country of different faiths. “The Catholic subjects of the monarch are just as important as the Anglican ones”, he says. He suggests he might be called Defender of Faith, not Defender of the Faith, when he becomes monarch.
1999: Elizabeth II gives the Order of Merit to Cardinal Basil Hume, Archbishop of Westminster, whom she refers to as “my Cardinal”.
2005: Prince Charles represents Elizabeth II at the funeral of John Paul II at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome; his marriage to Camilla Parker-Bowles is delayed by a day because of the funeral.
2009: Charles as Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall visit Pope Benedict XVI in Rome, discussing climate change and interreligious dialogue
2010: Pope Benedict XVI makes a state visit to the UK, starting at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh with Elizabeth II and Prince Philip; he later addresses Parliament and attends an ecumenical service in Westminster Abbey.
2012: Another visit by Charles and Camilla to Rome, with talks said to include relaxing restrictions on royalty marrying Roman Catholics
2013: Succession to the Crown Act, relaxing restrictions on royalty marrying Roman Catholics; monarch must still be an Anglican.
2014: Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visit Pope Francis in Rome.
2014: Prince Charles attends a Catholic service for persecuted Christians in Acton, West London, hosted by the Catholic charity, Aid to the Church in Need, one of several services and events of the charity he has attended during his time as Prince of Wales and later as King. He also makes several undisclosed donations to help its work.
2019: Prince Charles attends the canonisation of Cardinal John Henry Newman, former Anglican priest and Catholic convert, in Rome, and writes an article for the Vatican paper, L’Osservatore Romano, praising Newman’s example.
2022: Prince Charles accedes to the throne as Charles III, attends a reception for faith leaders at Buckingham Palace where he speaks of Britain as “a community of community”. Upon his accession, inherits the title of Defender of the Faith, the same title given to Henry VIII by a pope 500 years earlier and used ever since by English and later British monarchs.
2023: Coronation of Charles III, attended by the papal nuncio (ambassador of the Pope) and Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who participates in prayers. A cross given by Pope Francis leads the King’s procession. But he also pledges during the service to uphold the Protestant religion and preserve the Church of England.
April 2025: The King and Queen Camilla visit Pope Francis for a private audience in Rome, just days before the pope’s death.
May 2025: Baroness Eilish Angiolini chosen by the King to be his representative as Lord High Commissioner and attend the Church of Scotland’s general assembly – the first Catholic to do so since the Reformation. A special act of parliament is needed to allow her to do so.
September 2025: The King visits the Birmingham Oratory, founded by John Henry Newman, and visits the Victorian cardinal’s rooms and sees his relics.
September 2025: Funeral of the Catholic convert, the Duchess of Kent, held in Westminster Cathedral, with Charles as King being the first Catholic monarch in 500 years to publicly attend a Catholic Mass
October 2025:The King is due to visit the Vatican to meet Pope Leo XIV
