Royal couple to hold first official audience with Pope Leo XIV in October
The King and Queen will meet Pope Leo XIV for the first time during a rescheduled state visit to the Vatican next month, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
The audience with the new pontiff - elected earlier this year following the death of Pope Francis - will take place in late October, as part of events marking the 2025 Jubilee Year.
This will be Their Majesties’ first official engagement with Pope Leo XIV, who became the first American to lead the Roman Catholic Church when he assumed the papacy in April.
The visit follows the cancellation of a planned state occasion in early April, which was postponed due to the declining health of Pope Francis. Despite the change in schedule, the King and Queen were able to meet privately with the late pontiff during a visit to Italy, just 12 days before his death.
That meeting - arranged at short notice - took place on April 9, the royal couple’s 20th wedding anniversary, with Pope Francis reportedly wishing to offer his personal congratulations.
In a statement following the pontiff’s death on April 21, the King said he and the Queen were “most deeply saddened” by the loss.
Shortly after Pope Leo’s election, the King sent a private message of congratulations from Buckingham Palace. The new Pope has since called for unity within the Church and for it to serve as a “leaven of harmony for humanity.”
The upcoming audience in October will mark a significant diplomatic and spiritual moment in the evolving relationship between the British monarchy and the Holy See.
Formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost from Chicago, Pope Leo was elected on May 8 after a conclave meeting of 133 cardinals from 70 countries in just over 24 hours.
In the days after his election, the 70-year-old outlined some of his key priorities as Pope, saying the Holy See’s three pillars of diplomacy are peace, justice, and truth during his first foreign policy address.
During his first Sunday blessing, Leo called for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Leo has also identified artificial intelligence as one of the most critical issues facing humanity, saying it poses challenges to defending human dignity, justice, and labor.
He is a dual citizen of the United States and Peru, where he first served as a missionary and then as archbishop, meaning he is the first Pope from each country.
A papal jubilee is traditionally marked every 25 years in the Catholic Church. The King and Queen’s visit is also expected to celebrate the ecumenical work by the Church of England and the Catholic Church, reflecting the Jubilee year’s theme of walking together as “Pilgrims of Hope.”
The King is Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
The role dates back to Henry VIII, who named himself Supreme Head of the Church of England after he was excommunicated by the pope, Pope Paul III, and broke from the Catholic Church in the 16th century to marry Anne Boleyn.
Politics Editor
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