King Charles to pray with Pope during Vatican trip in historic first

King Charles and Pope Leo are to become the first British monarch and pontiff to pray together at a church service since the Reformation in the 16th Century.

This historic moment will be in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, during next week's state visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla.

Under the chapel's famous ceiling painted by Michelangelo, the service will bring together clergy and choirs from both the Roman Catholic church and the Church of England, of which the King is supreme governor.

The visit will be seen as an important symbol of reconciliation, in a trip that will also see the first meeting between the King and the new US-born Pope.

The state visit to the Vatican has been rearranged after the previous visit was postponed because of the ill health of Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis.

The King and Queen had a private meeting with Pope Francis on their 20th wedding anniversary in April, in one of the late pope's last meetings with high-profile visitors before he died.

The state visit on 22 and 23 October will see a series of meetings and services emphasising the warm relations between the Church of England and the Catholic church.

The King and Queen will meet the Pope and senior Vatican officials and there will be a special ecumenical service, bringing together Catholic and Anglican traditions, which will see the King and Pope praying together.

The service in the Sistine Chapel will be focused on protecting nature, in recognition of the King's enthusiastic support of environmental causes.

But its purpose will be to show harmony between the two religious denominations, with the Sistine Chapel Choir singing alongside the Choir of St George's Chapel and the Choir of His Majesty's Chapel Royal.

The richly-decorated 15th Century chapel is the setting for the conclave of cardinals that elects the pope.

There have been meetings between monarchs and pontiffs before, including by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

But according to Buckingham Palace and the Church of England, there has been no similar moment, with a British monarch and pope praying alongside each other at a shared church service, since Henry VIII's split from Rome in the 16th Century.

Royal sources have emphasised the historic significance of this occasion, with the King having a long commitment to building bridges between faiths.

There will be another connection with the pre-Reformation era, when the King attends a service at the church of St Paul's Outside the Walls.

This church and abbey, which contains the tomb of St Paul, was traditionally associated with the English monarchy, going back back to medieval and Anglo-Saxon rulers who had once helped with the upkeep of this building in Rome.

The insignia of the Order of the Garter has been on display here for centuries, reflecting the links with the English monarchy.

And the King will take an honorary, spiritual title associated with the abbey, becoming what's called a "royal confrater", as part of the abbey's confraternity.

A Church of England spokesman said the title was a tribute to the King's "work over many decades to find common ground between faiths and to bring people together".

The King will sit in a purpose-made seat, decorated with the King's coat of arms, which will stay in place for the King's future use and his successors.

State visits are carried out on behalf of the government and a Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "The Catholic Church is the largest denomination of the world's largest religion."

As such, the King and Queen's visit will "strengthen the UK's relationship with this crucial and influential partner", she said.