Vatican City, Oct 23, 2025 / 09:34 am

History was made in the Sistine Chapel on Thursday as Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III prayed side by side, marking 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.

Pope Leo XIV led the midday prayer of the Divine Office, standing beneath Michelangelo’s fresco of “The Last Judgment” and flanked by Anglican Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, King Charles, and Queen Camilla.

The ecumenical prayer service featured the Sistine Chapel Choir along with the choirs from St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle and His Majesty’s Chapel Royal.

The choirs sang “Come, Holy Ghost, Who Ever One,” a hymn by St. Ambrose translated into English by St. John Henr

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