He Pope Leo XIV and the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, preside in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican over the ecumenical prayer dedicated to the defense of the environment in which they participate the kings of the United Kingdom, Charles III and Camillaa historic event that occurs after almost 500 years of the Anglican Reformation.
In front of the frescoes by Michelangelo and Botticelli, with the background of the Last Judgment, Carlos III, in a blue suit, and Camillawearing a black dress and veil, sat to the left of the altar, next to Leo XIV and the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, who occupied the central part.
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The kings of the United Kingdom, Charles III (i) and Camilla (r), arrived at the Vatican this Thursday for their meeting with Pope Leo XIV (c) and the subsequent historic ecumenical prayer in the Sistine Chapel in which a British monarch and a pontiff will pray together after almost 500 years. Photo: EFE
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He Pope will be in charge of presiding over the prayer together with Cottrellsince the head of the Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, will not begin her position until January and therefore did not participate in this visit.
Before this event, Leo XIV and the British kings met privately for about 45 minutes in the Apostolic Library. Charles III gave the Pope a large silver photograph and an icon of Saint Edward, ‘the Confessor’, and, for his part, the pontiff donated a scale version of the ‘Christ Pantocrator’ mosaic from the Norman Cathedral of Cefalù, in Sicily, made in the Vatican workshops.
This is the first time that a British monarch and the Pope have prayed together since the Anglican Reformation, when in 1534 the then British King Henry VIII broke with Rome after the frustrated attempt to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn, something to which Pope Clement VII did not agree, which led him to proclaim himself supreme head of the Church of England.
The celebration began with the singing of the hymn, a text by Saint Ambrose of Milan in Latin that Charles II and Queen Camilla received with the English translation by Saint John Henry Newman, an Anglican who converted to Catholicism and who on November 1 will be declared a Doctor of the Church.
And it continued with a reading of the Letter to the Romans by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yvette Cooper.
The Choirs of the Sistine Chapel, St. George’s Chapel, Windsor and the Children’s Choir of the Royal Chapel of Saint James’s Palace.
Then they took the floor Archbishop of York and the Pope to read together in English the short prayer dedicated to Creation.
At the end of the celebration, the king, accompanied by the pope, will move to the Sala Regia, a room adjacent to the Sistine Chapel, where they will meet with representatives of climate organizations and private sector leaders who have been working with the Sustainable Markets Initiative, which Charles III founded as Prince of Wales.
Charles III will receive the title of ‘Royal Confrater’ (Royal Brother) and a special seat decorated with his coat of arms will be placed on which he will sit during the event at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls.
And, in return, with the approval of the British monarch, the Dean and Canons of Saint George’s College, Windsor, offered Leo XIV becoming papal member of Saint George’s Chapel of Windsor Castle, something the Pope has accepted.
These mutual gifts “are a recognition of spiritual communion and are a profound symbol of the path that the Church of England (of which His Majesty is Supreme Governor) and the Roman Catholic Church have taken over the last 500 years,” Buckingham Palace reported.
There will also be an exchange of honors: the king will confer on the pope the honor of Knight of the Grand Cross with Necklace of the Vatican Order of Pope Pius IXwhile the pontiff will confer on the queen the honor of Dame of the Grand Cross of the same Order.
