Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla will undertake a state visit to the Holy See this fall, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The trip – which will take place in late October – will see the royal couple hold their first meeting with Pope Leo XIV, who was elected in May following the death of Pope Francis.
The palace said that Charles and Camilla would join the new pontiff in celebrating the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year, which takes place every quarter of a century.
The Catholic Jubilee Year – or Holy Year – was established in the 14th century by Pope Boniface VIII and is 12 months focused on forgiveness and reconciliation.
“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
The royal couple were supposed to pay a state visit to the Vatican in early April, but the trip was postponed over Francis’ poor health. They continued with a state visit to Italy, visiting Rome and Ravenna in the northeast.
Charles and Camilla were able to privately visit Francis on April 9 – a fortnight before the first Latin American pope died of a stroke and heart failure.
Pope Francis met privately with King Charles and Queen Camilla on April 9. – /Vatican Media
The meeting – which happened to fall on the royal couple’s 20th wedding anniversary – was organized with short notice as it was subject to the pope’s health. Francis was said to have been keen to personally wish them a happy anniversary.
Charles, 76, is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The role dates back to the reign of Henry VIII when in the 16th century he broke with the Catholic Church to marry Anne Boleyn.
Despite the turbulent past of the Reformation almost 500 years ago, the bonds between the Vatican and the British monarchy are today marked by warmth and mutual respect. The UK and the Holy See have had full diplomatic relations since 1982.
Charles – who is known to be deeply faithful and regularly attends services – has visited the Holy See on several occasions.
As Prince of Wales, Charles visited Vatican City five times. He was present in St. Peter’s Square for the 2019 canonization ceremony of Saint John Henry Newman, an influential theologian who converted to Catholicism after years as an Anglican priest. At that time, the King wrote an article praising Newman and thanked the Pope for his environmental efforts.
Earlier this month, Charles became the first British monarch to visit the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Birmingham, England, the community Newman founded there in 1848.
Charles’ other official visits to the Holy See were in 2017, 2009, 2005 and 1985.
Following Leo’s election in May, the King sent a private message of congratulations to the first ever US pontiff.
Leo was born Robert Prevost in Chicago in 1955 but holds dual citizenship in Peru, where he served for many years as a missionary before his elevation to cardinal. He most recently served as the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a powerful Vatican office charged with recommending new bishop appointments.
In his first remarks as the 267th pontiff from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, he paid tribute to his predecessor and called for peace and unity in the world.
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