The Royal Family Confirms Plans of King Charles III's Official Visit to the Vatican and Meeting with Pope Francis

 Pope Francis King Charles

The United Kingdom's Royal Family released that King Charles III and Queen Camilla will make a state visit to the Holy See in April, and are scheduled be received in an audience with Pope Francis on April 8. The English King and Queen will be in Italy from April 7–10. Their visit is focused on the Vatican and participation in the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year.  However, Pope Francis, age 88, has been in hospital suffering from bilateral pneumonia since February 14. Although the pope shows slight improvements there has been no official date of  Pope Francis' release from hospital. Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, released the following program for the visit:
Their Majesties The King and Queen will undertake State Visits to the Holy See and the Republic of Italy - incorporating Rome and Ravenna - from 7th – 10th April 2025.
Their Majesties’ programmes are designed to celebrate the U.K.’s warm bilateral relationship with each country. The Visit to the Holy See will be an historic visit in the year of the Papal Jubilee, and will mark a significant step forward in relations between the Catholic Church and Church of England with a special service in the Sistine Chapel, joining hands in a celebration of ecumenism, and of the work The King and The Pope have done over many years on climate and Nature. The Visit to Italy will underscore the depth and breadth of the bilateral relationship: our defence relationship including in the current international context; our shared values, history and culture; our work together on the clean energy transition; and the links between our peoples and communities.
Programme Highlights include:
The Holy See

The Jubilee Year
On Tuesday 8th April, Their Majesties will visit the Holy See to join Pope Francis in celebrating the 2025 Jubilee. Held traditionally once every 25 years, the Jubilee is a special year for the Catholic Church; a year of reconciliation, prayer and walking together as ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, which is the Jubilee’s theme.

Nature and Sustainability
The King and Queen will have an audience with Pope Francis. Their Majesties will also attend a Service in the Sistine Chapel, focused on the theme of ‘care for creation’, reflecting Pope Francis’ and His Majesty’s long-standing commitment to Nature.

Ecumenical Relationships
In an historic first, His Majesty, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, will also visit the Papal Basilica of ‘St. Paul’s Outside the Walls’, with which English Kings had a particular link until the Reformation. ‘St Paul’s Outside the Walls’ is recognised as the Papal Basilica where reconciliation, ecumenism and relationships across the Christian faith are celebrated. Members of the Choir of His Majesty’s Chapel Royal and the Choir of St.

George’s Chapel, Windsor, will perform in both the Sistine Chapel and at ‘St Paul’s Outside the Walls’. In the Sistine Chapel, they will be accompanied by the Sistine Chapel Choir.

The King will also attend a reception with Seminarians from across the Commonwealth and the British Vatican community. Meanwhile, Her Majesty will meet Catholic Sisters from The International Union of Superiors General, who are working around the world at grassroots level to promote female empowerment, through girls’ education programmes, improved access to healthcare, climate action and the prevention of sexual violence and human trafficking.
Source: https://www.royal.uk/ItalyHolySee

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