King Charles will meet Pope Leon for a holiday that takes place every 25 years in the Vatican
Pope Leon XIV. Photo credit: Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
King Charles III, the head of the Anglican Church, and Queen Camilla will make a state visit to the Vatican at the end of October to meet Pope Leon XIV, the Buckingham Palace announced on Saturday.
This will be the first meeting of Charles III and Camilla with the new Sovereign Pontiff.
Leon XIV will celebrate with the royal couple the jubilee year, or the holy year, of the Catholic Church, which takes place every 25 years and attracts millions of pilgrims to the Vatican.
“This visit will also celebrate the ecumenical action of the Anglican Church and the Catholic Church, reflecting the theme of the Jubilee year,” the Buckingham Palace said, without specifying the exact data.
The royal couple met in private with his predecessor, Pope Francis, on April 9, at the Vatican, 12 days before his death, in the margin of a state visit to Italy.
Charles III, 76 years old, suffering from cancer, travels a little abroad.
In addition to the four-day state visit to Italy in April, he spent 48 hours in Canada, on May 26 and 27, to keep the Parliament's reopening speech and insist on Canadian self-determination, in a time that Donald Trump was talking about transforming Canada into an American state.
Pope Francis, who died in April at the age of 88, was the leader of the 1.4 billion Catholics around the world for 12 years. Leon XIV, originally from the United States, succeeded on May 8.
Prior to its coronation of May 2023, Charles III visited the Vatican five times as a prince of Wales and met with three popes.
He was received by Pope Francis during his Vatican visits in 2017 and 2019, and by Benedict XVI's predecessor in 2009.
He also met John Paul II during his visit to the United Kingdom in 1982 and participated in the funerals of Pope Polish in the Vatican in 2005.
