According to Buckingham Palace, King Charles III and Queen Camilla will travel to the Vatican next month on a state visit to meet Pope Leo XIV for the first time.
The visit
The royal couple will see Pope Leo XIV for the first time in late October.
Pope Leo was elected in May after Pope Francis passed away aged 88 in April.
The King and Queen’s trip to the Vatican represents an attempt to strengthen the bonds between the Catholic Church and the Church of England, which broke away from Rome in the 16th century under King Henry VIII.
Since he took the throne two and a half years ago, King Charles has prioritised fostering relationships among individuals of religious backgrounds.
According to the palace, the visit will take place during the Catholic Church’s “jubilee” year, which is celebrated every 25 years.
“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,’” the palace said.
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Previous visits
The official visit to the Vatican, originally scheduled earlier this year, was postponed due to Pope Francis’ ailing health; however, the couple met privately with the previous pope during a four-day visit to Italy in April.
Two weeks after the meeting, which was also the couple’s 20th wedding anniversary, Pope Francis passed away.
Charles has made multiple trips to the Holy See and is well-known for being a devout follower who frequently attends services.
He made five trips to Vatican City while serving as Prince of Wales, in 1985, 2005, 2009, 2017, and the latest visit in 2019, where he attended the 2019 canonisation ceremony of Saint John Henry Newman, a well-known theologian who served for years as an Anglican clergyman before converting to Catholicism, in St. Peter’s Square.
The King congratulated the Pope for his environmental initiatives and praised Newman in an article at the time.
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