In a moment of historic significance, Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III prayed together in the Sistine Chapel — marking the first time in nearly five centuries that the heads of the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches have shared a common act of worship, Vatican News reported.

The joint prayer, held beneath Michelangelo’s famed fresco The Last Judgment, was conducted in English and Latin. Participants included Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, and representatives of the Scottish episcopate. The Sistine Chapel Choir, together with the choirs of Windsor and St. James’s Chapels, performed psalms and hymns during the service.

The British monarch and Queen Camilla are in the Vatican on a state visit — originally planned for April but postponed following the death of Pope Francis. The event is widely seen as a milestone in the ongoing rapprochement between the Catholic and Anglican Communions. Since the Act of Supremacy of 1534, when King Henry VIII declared himself head of the independent Church of England, no British monarch has taken part in a shared prayer with a Roman pontiff.

Earlier in the day, a ceremonial exchange of honors took place: King Charles III was invested with a papal knighthood, while Pope Leo XIV received the title of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. The king also presented the Pope with an icon of St. Edward the Confessor, the patron saint of England.

A second joint service is planned to take place at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, where King Charles will be named an “honorary royal fellow” of the abbey.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office described the visit as “a step forward in strengthening the United Kingdom’s strategic relationship with a global partner that plays a vital role in international dialogue and diplomacy.”