By M10News Religion Desk | October 23, 2025
In a landmark moment of reconciliation nearly 500 years after England’s break with Rome, King Charles III prayed alongside Pope Leo XIV inside the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.
The event marks the first time in modern history that a British monarch — the Supreme Governor of the Church of England — has taken part in a joint act of prayer with the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
From Rebellion to Reconciliation
Almost every British schoolchild learns the story of King Henry VIII, who broke from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534 after the pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
Henry’s split from Rome led to the creation of the Church of England, with the monarch as its supreme head.
He soon divorced Catherine and married Anne Boleyn — who was later executed — and began a campaign of destruction against Catholic monasteries and clergy.
Centuries of Persecution
In the years that followed, Catholicism was suppressed across England and Scotland.
Monasteries were dissolved, treasures and manuscripts destroyed, and priests executed for their faith.
For centuries, English Catholics were banned from public worship, and mixed marriages between Catholics and Anglicans were discouraged well into the 20th century.
A Healing Moment in the Sistine Chapel
Nearly half a millennium later, King Charles’s act of prayer beside the pope symbolises a remarkable healing of historic wounds.
“The age of mutual suspicion really is now over,” said Canon Jamie Hawkey, theologian at Westminster Abbey.
He told a Religion Media Centre briefing that Catholics and Anglicans can now share spaces of worship once deemed unthinkable.
Historical Enmity Between the Faiths
The road to this moment has been long and turbulent.
Relations between Catholics and Anglicans were marked by hostility after Queen Elizabeth I was declared a heretic and excommunicated by Pope Pius V in 1570.
A generation later, Guy Fawkes and his fellow Catholic conspirators attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605, an event that deepened mistrust for centuries.
Laws Against Catholics
In 1701, the Act of Settlement cemented a ban on Catholics — or anyone married to a Catholic — from ascending to the British throne.
The restriction was one of many laws designed to safeguard Protestant succession amid fears of papal influence.
Gradual Thaw in Relations
From the mid-20th century onward, relations between Rome and the Church of England began to thaw.
Senior royals and archbishops of Canterbury have since made regular visits to the Vatican, fostering mutual understanding.
In 2013, the Succession to the Crown Act relaxed rules preventing royal heirs from marrying Catholics, though the monarch must remain Anglican.
Charles’s Ongoing Dialogue with the Vatican
Earlier this year, King Charles and Queen Camilla made a private visit to Pope Francis, days before his death.
In September, the king became the first British monarch in five centuries to attend a Catholic mass publicly, when he joined mourners at the funeral of the Duchess of Kent, a Catholic convert.
Rediscovering Shared Faith
Canon Hawkey described the past six decades as a period of “extraordinary rediscovery of our common roots,” while acknowledging that differences in theology remain.
He said the shared act of prayer was not merely symbolic but “a moment where history can be seen to be healed.”
A Long Road from Henry VIII
Author Catherine Pepinster, whose book The Keys and the Kingdom explores Britain’s relationship with the papacy, told the briefing that the symbolism cannot be overstated.
“This country has a long history of difficulties with Rome,” she said. “We’ve come a very long way — but until now, we’ve never seen the supreme head of the Church of England kneeling beside the pope in prayer.”
A New Chapter for Faith and Diplomacy
Observers say the meeting represents a powerful gesture of unity, not only for faith communities but for wider diplomacy between the UK and the Holy See.
While theological divides persist, the moment underscores a new spirit of cooperation built on mutual respect.
As Canon Hawkey put it, “What began as a schism of power has, over time, become a shared search for peace.”
Editing by M10News Religion Desk | Contact: religion@m10news.com
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- King Charles III
- Pope Leo XIV
- Church of England
- Henry VIII
- Religious reconciliation
