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The Sistine Chapel was the scene this Thursday of an unprecedented event. For the first time in history the leaders of the Catholic Church, the Pope of Rome, and the Anglican Church, the King of England, have held a joint prayer. XIV lion y Carlos III They have presided over the ecumenical prayer, in English, dedicated to the defense of the environment.
In front of the frescoes by Michelangelo and Botticelli, with the background of the Last Judgment, Charles III, in a blue suit, and Queen Camilla, in a black dress and veil, sat to the left of the altar, next to Leo XIV and the archbishop of yorkStephen Cottrell, who occupied the central part.
The Pope has been in charge of presiding over the prayer together with Cottrellsince the head of the Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, will not begin her position until January and therefore did not participate in this visit. But English monarchs have placed themselves at the same height as religious leaders, near the altar.
Pope Leo XIV receives Kings Charles III and Camilla in a private audience at the Vatican.
Reuters / Vatican
The ceremony is historic because it is the first time since Enrique VIII decided to break with the Catholic Church in 1534 and create the Church of England, a decision motivated by personal reasons – the refusal of Clement VII to grant him the bull to divorce Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn– but that his successors on the throne would consolidate in later centuries, that Catholic and Anglican leaders share prayer.
In the Sistine Chapel the music of Thomas Tallisa famous English composer of the 16th century who ended up practicing at the court of London and who, being Catholic, had to experience the violent religious conflict firsthand.
Before this act, Leo XIV and the British kings They met privately for about 45 minutes in the Apostolic Library. Charles III, who had already visited the Vatican as a prince, presented the pontiff with a large silver photograph and an icon of St. Edward the Confessor. For his part, the Pope donated a scale version of the ‘Christ Pantocrator’ mosaic from the Norman Cathedral of Cefalù, in Sicily, made in the Vatican workshops.
The British kings are on a state visit to the Vatican with the aim of strengthening ties between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion almost five centuries after their turbulent separation. “There is a strong feeling that this moment in the extraordinary setting of the Sistine Chapel offers a kind of healing of history“he declared to the agency Reuters the Anglican Reverend James Hawkey, canon theologian of Westminster Abbey.