By Kielce Gussie

After a meeting in the Apostolic Palace earlier in the morning, Pope Leo XIV, King Charles III and Queen Camilla of Great Britain gathered together for an ecumenical prayer service in the Sistine Chapel. They were joined by the Most Reverend Stephen Cottrell, the 98th Archbishop of York and the Primate of England – the second-most senior bishop in the Church of England.

The Pope and Archbishop led a midday prayer comprising psalms and a Gospel reading. Michaelangelo’s frescoed chapel was filled with a number of ecumenical guests, including the Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, and the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, Leo Cushley, representing the Scottish episcopate.

A historic visit

This visit marked a historic moment in Anglican-Catholic relations—one that has not occurred in 500 years. Two themes marked the journey: Christian unity and care for the environment.

Originally scheduled for April, the visit was cancelled due to Pope Francis’ ill health. One of its goals was to highlight the shared commitment of King Charles and the Argentine Pope to the care of Creation — ten years after the publication of the encyclical Laudato Si’. 

Moreover, the ecumenical prayer service, held in Latin and English, built upon the good relations between the Vatican and the United Kingdom. It also fulfilled a wish of King Charles, who, as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, has long been committed to interfaith engagement.

A bridge between two faiths

From the opening hymn of the prayer service, the theme of Christian unity and ecumenism was evident. The original text was written by St. Ambrose of Milan, Doctor of the Church. It was translated by St. John Henry Newman, who was an Anglican for half of his life before converting to Catholicism.

King Charles had attended the canonization ceremony of the English theologian in 2019. St. John Henry Newman is set to be declared a Doctor of the Church on 1 November by Pope Leo.

Continuing this atmosphere of communion, the chapel was filled with the voices of the Lay Clerks of St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle and the Children of the Chapel Royal of St. James’ Palace – both invited by King Charles and Queen Camilla – together with the Sistine Chapel Choir. The three groups chanted and sung the hymn and psalms of midday prayer.

As the organ signalled the end of the prayer service, Pope Leo exited the Sistine Chapel side-by-side with King Charles.