On October 23, Pope Leo XIV participated in various events with King Charles III and Queen Camilla, including an ecumenical prayer in the Sistine Chapel, marking a historic moment in Anglican-Catholic relations. The day included a private meeting between the two leaders in the Apostolic Palace and an ecumenical service in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, where King Charles was conferred the title of Royal Confrater of Saint Paul.
Father Martin Browne, an Irish Benedictine monk and official of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, whose work focuses on the Church’s relationship with the Anglican Communion, spoke to Vatican News’ Xavier Sartre about some of the main elements of this historic day, especially the ecumenical aspects and the unifying theme of the care for creation.
“One of the most significant things is that an English King has not prayed in the same place as a Pope since before the Reformation, since long before the separation of the Church of England from the Church of Rome,” said Father Browne. Despite many English sovereigns having visited the Vatican, the last time they prayed with a Pope was 500 years ago. This historical event thus marks a “further development in the warmth of the relationship” between the two Churches, Father Browne continued.
The afternoon service in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls also represents the inauguration of “a new kind of relationship between the Basilica and the English crown”. With the King becoming a Royal Confrater, he was “welcomed formally to the Basilica and seated in a very special chair that has been created for the occasion,” which bears his coat of arms and the verse in Latin from the Gospel of John, Ut unum sint (“That they may be one”).
“Traditionally, before the Reformation, the English sovereigns were known as the protectors of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls. The Benedictine Abbey to this day still has a symbol of the British Order of the Garter, which is the highest order in the United Kingdom, as part of its coat of arms,” Father Browne said.
