King Charles III, head of the Church of England, and Queen Camilla will make a state visit to meet Pope Leo XIV for the first time at the Vatican next month, Buckingham Palace said Saturday.
“Their Majesties The King and Queen will undertake a State Visit to the Holy See in late October 2025,” a statement said of the trip, which will come around six months after the royal couple met Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, shortly before his death.
Francis died on April 21 after 12 years as head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, and Leo was elected in a conclave of cardinals on May 8.
Leo, 70, who has a history of missionary work in Peru, is the first pope from the United States.
Pope Leo XIV arrives on the main central loggia balcony of the St Peter’s Basilica for the first time after being elected to take over from the late Pope Francis on May 8.
During the visit, Charles and Camilla will join Leo in celebrations to mark the current special jubilee year, held every 25 years, the palace statement said.
“The visit will also celebrate the ecumenical work by the Church of England and the Catholic Church, reflecting the Jubilee year’s theme of walking together as ‘Pilgrims of Hope’,” it added.
The British monarch is head of the Church of England, the mother church of global Anglicanism.
The Church was established in the 16th century by Henry VIII, the king who broke with the Vatican over its refusal to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
The split fuelled centuries of ensuing conflict, but in modern times, relations between the Catholic Church and the Church of England, often referred to as the Anglican Church, have been amicable.
Jubilee year
Charles, 76, last met Francis, with whom he shared a passion for protecting the environment, in Rome in April, despite having officially postponed the audience due to the pontiff’s poor health.
The royal couple’s four-day trip to Italy that month had been thrown into doubt by the king’s own health scare.
Charles was briefly admitted to hospital on March 27 after experiencing temporary side effects from the treatment for his cancer, which was announced last year.
The king had previously visited the Vatican on five occasions as Prince of Wales, and had met three popes.
He was received by Francis during visits to the Vatican in 2017 and 2019, and by Benedict XVI in 2009. He met John Paul II during his visit to Britain in 1982 and attended the Polish pope’s funeral at the Vatican in 2005.
AFP
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