England’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla will take on a state visit to the Holy Sea this fall, Buckingham Palace announced.
The trip will take place in late October – you will see the royal couple host their first meeting with Pope Leo XIV, who was elected in May after Pope Francis’ death.
The palace said Charles and Camilla will join the new Pope to celebrate the year of the Catholic Church’s Jubilee, which takes place every quarter of a century.
The Year of Catholic Jubilee, or Holy Year, was founded in the 14th century by Pope Boniface VIII, and focuses on forgiveness and reconciliation.
“The visit also reflects the Jubilee year’s theme of celebrating the ecumenical work of the Church of England and Catholic Churches and walking together as “pilgrims of hope,” the palace said.
The royal couple was to pay for a state visit to the Vatican in early April, but the trip was postponed due to poor health for Frances. They continued their national visits to Italy, visiting Rome and Ravenna in the northeast.
Charles and Camila were able to make a personal visit to Francis on April 9th. This is two weeks before the first Latin American pope died of stroke and heart failure.
The meeting, which happened to be on the 20th anniversary of the royal couple’s wedding, was held in a short period of time as they were exposed to the health of the Pope. It was said that Francis was keen to personally wish them a happy anniversary.
Charles, 76, is the highest governor of the Church of England. Its role dates back to the reign of King Henry VIII in the 16th century when he broke with the Catholic Church to marry Anne Bolin.
Despite the turbulent past of reform almost 500 years ago, the bond between the Vatican and the British monarchy is today marked by warmth and mutual respect. The British and the Holy Sea have had full diplomatic relations since 1982.
Charles is known to be deeply loyal and regularly attend the service, but has visited the Holy See several times.
As Prince of Wales, Charles has visited the Vatican five times. He was in St. Peter’s Square for the 2019 Canonical Ceremony of St. John Henry Newman, an influential theologian who converted to Catholicism years later as an Anglican priest. At the time, the king wrote an article praised Newman and thanked the Pope for his environmental efforts.
Earlier this month, Charles became the first British monarch to visit the orator of St. Philip Nelli in Birmingham, England, and was founded there in 1848 by Newman.
Other official visits to Charles’ Holy See were in 2017, 2009, 2005 and 1985.
Following the election of Leo in May, the king sent a private message of congratulations to the American Pope for the first time.
Leo was born in Chicago in 1955 to Robert Prevast, but held double citizenship in Peru, serving as a missionary for many years before his promotion to cardinal. He recently served as governor of Dicaster for Bishops. This is the office of the powerful Vatican that has been charged with recommending the appointment of a new bishop.
In his first statement as the 267th Bible from the balcony of St. Peter’s Cathedral, he paid tribute to his predecessor and called for peace and unity in the world.
