King Charles and Pope Leo XIV revive 500-year-old Catholic title in historic Windsor honour

The gesture acknowledges the long-standing ties between the College and Chapel of St George and the Holy See, as well as advances in relations between the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion.

It arrives precisely one year after the King and Queen undertook a historic State Visit to the Holy See, during which Charles was received as Royal Confrater of the Papal Basilica and Abbey of St Paul’s Outside the Walls in Rome.

The exchange represents the first time in roughly 500 years that such religious titles have been conferred between the two churches.

On October 23, 2025, the King and Queen met Pope Leo XIV and toured the Papal Basilica and Abbey of St Paul’s Outside the Walls as part of their State Visit.

With the Pope’s blessing, the Archpriest of the Basilica and the Abbot of the Abbey formally welcomed King Charles as Royal Confrater.

English monarchs had held a historic role connected to St Paul’s Outside the Walls before the mid-sixteenth century, a link severed when Henry VIII broke with Rome.

The Pope’s new Windsor title came about as a direct response to the King’s Roman honour.

The Dean and Canons of Windsor extended their invitation with Charles’s approval and the backing of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Pope Leo graciously accepted.

These mutual acts of confraternity are the first such exchange of religious titles between the two churches since Henry VIII’s Reformation split England from Roman Catholicism over five centuries ago.

Rather than dwelling on historic divisions, the King and the Pope have chosen to emphasise what binds their respective traditions together.

The announcement framed their shared commitment to Christian unity as particularly meaningful against the backdrop of growing global polarisation and instability.

Both leaders have entered into what Windsor described as Christian brotherhood, conferring honours that highlight common ground rather than theological differences.

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s support for the initiative underscores its significance within the Church of England, signalling broad institutional endorsement of the ecumenical rapprochement between Canterbury and Rome.

Specially commissioned chairs have been created for both sacred sites to mark the confraternity.

The King’s chair has been placed beside the monastic stalls at St Paul’s Outside the Walls, while a corresponding seat for the Pope will be revealed at St George’s Chapel at a later date.

A further ceremony is planned for later this autumn, when Charles will attend a service at Windsor to dedicate and install a Mosaic Icon of the Christ of Cefalù.

The artwork was a personal gift from Pope Leo XIV to the King during last year’s State Visit to the Holy See.

The icon will take its permanent place in the South Quire Aisle of St George’s Chapel, adding a lasting physical reminder of the renewed bond between the two churches.