The ecumenical gestures comes as the Anglican Communion undergoes a split over the choice of a woman for archbishop of Canterbury.

For the first time since the 16th century, the monarch of England and the bishop of Rome prayed together last week. The step is a gesture of ecumenical friendship, according to two British Catholic journalists. 

Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III prayed the midday prayer of the Divine Office side by side in the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, joined by Anglican Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell and Queen Camilla. The occasion marks the first time since the Protestant Reformation that a reigning British monarch and a pope have prayed together during a royal state visit to the Vatican. 

“I think this was a sort of healing,” British Catholic journalist Joanna Bogle told EWTN News Nightly. “As is known, his majesty really, honestly is a sincere Christian. This is a man who goes to church regularly — he is a believer. And he is very anxious to show ecumenical goodwill.” 

Bogle said the prayer service was the latest in a happy series of meetings between British monarchs and popes. Pope St. John Paul II visited the United Kingdom in 1982, and Pope Benedict XVI visited at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II in 2010. King Charles previously attended St. John Henry Newman’s canonization in Rome in 2019, but last week marked his first state visit since his accession to the British throne in 2022.  

Bogle said joining in prayer was authentic on the part of the king. 

“It really is prayer,” she said. “This is not just a noise, and there’s nothing multifaith about this. The king is a Christian and wants to be seen as such. And I think there is a great reverence here, and I’m rather touched by this.” 

In addition to the prayer service, the monarch and Pontiff exchanged honorary titles. During the visit, Pope Leo XIV conferred on King Charles the title of “Royal Confrater” of the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls and the honor of “Knight Grand Cross with the Collar” of the Vatican Order of Pope Pius IX. Queen Camilla received the “Dame Grand Cross” of the same order. In turn, Pope Leo accepted the title of “Papal Confrater” of St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle and the honor of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Bath. 

The ecumenical gestures comes as the Anglican Communion undergoes a split over the choice of a woman for archbishop of Canterbury, the Register’s Edward Pentin said Thursday on EWTN’s The World Over.  

“I think it’s seen possibly as a bit of a help to the Anglican Communion to keep them together,” Pentin said of the titles given to king and pope. “But it’s coming for some criticism, of course, as well. Some people see it very much as a superficial unity, which covers up serious theological differences. And it undermines, they say, both Anglicanism and Catholicism, these kinds of gestures.” 

Referencing a conversation with Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth of Georgetown University, Pentin said the events of last week could give substance to the hope that the British monarch and the Church of England may one day be restored to unity in the Catholic Church.  

The meeting certainly signals ecumenical dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, Bogle said. But as long as the Anglican Communion continues to ordain women as priests, no corporate union is possible. 

“They slammed the door,” Bogle said. “So a certain dialogue in friendship can continue. But I think a greater hope is that God will work through whatever the Holy Spirit does. And seeing our monarch pray with the Pope, this is a good thing. This is a beautiful thing.”