LONDON — The Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church have taken a landmark step toward one another that hasn’t happened in half a millennium. Buckingham Palace announced on Friday that, with King Charles III’s approval, Pope Leo XIV has become Papal Confrater of the College of St George at St George’s Chapel, Windsor — the first such exchange of religious titles between the two churches in roughly 500 years.
The announcement, made on October 23, 2026, marks exactly one year since King Charles and Queen Camilla made their historic State Visit to the Holy See — the first time since the Reformation that a British monarch had been seen praying publicly with a Pope.
What the Palace announced
With what the Palace called “the gracious approval of His Majesty The King,” the Dean and Canons of Windsor confirmed that Pope Leo XIV has accepted the honorary title of Papal Confrater of the College of St George.
The Palace described the act of confraternity as “a visible sign of spiritual fellowship, ecumenical friendship and Christian fraternity.” It said the honour recognises “the centuries-old relationship between the College and Chapel of St George, Windsor and the Holy See,” as well as the progress in relations between the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion.
The statement added that the gesture reflects “the deep mutual esteem between His Holiness and His Majesty and their shared desire for Christian unity.”
A reciprocal honour, one year in the making
The title for the Pope is a direct answer to an honour bestowed on the King a year ago. During the State Visit to the Holy See in October 2025 — during which Charles prayed alongside the Pope in the Sistine Chapel — King Charles was made Royal Confrater of the Papal Basilica and Abbey of St Paul’s Outside the Walls in Rome, with the Pope’s blessing.
That Roman honour has now been mirrored. With the Pope’s approval, the Archpriest of the Papal Basilica and the Abbot of St Paul’s Outside the Walls welcomed Charles into the confraternity — and the Windsor chapter has now done the same for Leo XIV.
Two chairs, two churches
To commemorate the connection, two specially commissioned chairs have been created. The chair presented to the King sits beside the monastic stalls at St Paul’s Outside the Walls in Rome, where it will be used by him and all future monarchs. A corresponding chair created for Pope Leo XIV will be unveiled at St George’s Chapel in Windsor in due course.
Why 500 years matters
The exchange is the first time in about five centuries that such religious titles have passed between the two churches. England’s rupture with Rome began under King Henry VIII in the 1530s, when the Act of Supremacy made the English monarch Supreme Head of the Church of England — severing ties that had bound the crown and the papacy for centuries.
Both sides have framed the new titles as a bridge across that long divide. The Living Church, an Anglican publication, called the original 2025 visit — when pope and king prayed together for the unity of the Church and the peace of the world — the first recorded occasion a Roman pope and a British monarch had prayed publicly together in 1,000 years.
This is not a merger of the churches: no doctrine has changed and no institutional union has been declared. But in the ceremonial language of confraternity — spiritual brotherhood — the King and the Pope have publicly declared what the Palace called “what unites rather than what separates” the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England.
Sources: Buckingham Palace announcement via Geo.tv (Oct 23, 2026); Hello Magazine (Oct 23, 2026); Royal Central (Oct 23, 2026); The Royal News Organisation (Oct 23, 2026); The Living Church (Oct 23, 2026).