History was made on October 23, 2025, when Britain’s King Charles III and Pope Leo XIV prayed side by side in the Vatican City, marking the first-ever joint worship between a British monarch and a Catholic pontiff in 500 years.
The historic first transpired inside the Sistine Chapel, where Leo was elected to papacy in May, making him the first United State-born priest to become the head of the Catholic Church and Bishop of Rome.
A video released by the Vatican Media showed Leo leading Thursday’s public service at the altar of the chapel, with Charles seated at his far left, beside Queen Camilla.
Music, Latin chants and English prayers so familiar to every Catholic faithful reverberated throughout the landmark ceremony.
“Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen,” Charles was heard reciting along with the crowd.
Why it matters
The moment was seen as a long-overdue reconciliation between the Great Britain monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church, in a fall out that dates back to 1534, which is known today as the “English Reformation.”
Then King Henry VIII initiated the separation, when Pope Clement VII refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon over the latter’s failure to bear an heir to the throne.
He abolished the authority of the pope over the state by creating the Church of England, which declares the British monarch as its Supreme Governor, a title that Charles succeeded when he became King in 2022.
Not recognising the pope as the leader of the Christian faith, the Church of England broke away from the traditional religious doctrines and practices, allowing Henry to divorce Catherine and be married again to Anne Boleyn in his quest for a son.
But the succeeding marriage resulted in only one surviving child — a daughter, who later became Queen Elizabeth I.
As for Anne, she was beheaded for treason three years after marrying Henry.
The dispute between the Church of England, the foundation of the Anglican Communion, and the Catholic Church have reportedly resulted in policies that often persecuted both Catholics and radical Protestants who did not conform to the monarch-ruled institution.
The state at the time was accused of ordering monasteries to be destroyed, land and valuables seized, libraries and manuscripts burned and priests, monks and abbots executed, according to an account by The Guardian.
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‘Healing of History’
The tale justifies the significance of last week’s joint prayer between Leo and Charles, the modern-day leaders of the two religious entities, which for centuries had been indifferent to one another.
Speaking with Reuters, Reverend Jamie Hawkey of Westminster Abbey said the canon event inside the Sistine Chapel “offers a kind of healing of history,” noting that such circumstances would have been impossible “just a generation ago.”
“Seventy years ago, it was not possible for Catholics and Anglicans to go into one another’s churches without causing great offence,” he said.
Thursday’s event “represents how far our churches have come over the last 60 years of dialogue,” the Theologian noted.
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Adam Peaker 
Newsjustnews writers 
Carmela Calling