For the first time in nearly five centuries, a reigning British monarch has prayed publicly with a pope. 

King Charles III and Queen Camilla joined Pope Leo XIV in a joint prayer service at the Vatican on Thursday (October 23), marking a symbolic milestone in relations between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. 

The encounter followed a formal audience at the Apostolic Palace and was framed as a gesture of reconciliation since England’s 1534 break with Rome under Henry VIII. 

British and international outlets described the moment as unprecedented in the modern era. 

Pope Leo XIV—Chicago-born Robert F. Prevost, elected earlier this year after the death of Pope Francis—received the royal couple during their state visit to the Holy See. 

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