King Charles and Queen Camilla plan to meet Pope Francis during Vatican state visit

King Charles and Queen Camilla‘s royal tour to the Vatican and Italy is beginning to take shape with new details for their three-day trip released on Tuesday.

Their Majesties are scheduled to have an audience with Pope Francis during the state visit next month, Buckingham Palace said.

King Charles’ visit to the Vatican is set to be a “historic first”, with the 76-year-old becoming the first monarch and Supreme Governor of the Church of England to visit the Papal Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls since the Reformation, which dates back to the 1500s.

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The tentative audience suggests the Holy See is optimistic the pontiff will be back at work by then, barring any setbacks in his recovery from double pneumonia. State visits are always planned in close consultation with the Vatican’s secretariat of state.

The palace separately confirmed that Charles wrote privately to the pope when he was taken ill. Francis, 88, has been hospitalised since February 14.

The visit to the Vatican is symbolic of efforts to build closer ties between the Catholic Church and the Church of England, which split from Rome in the 16th century during the reign of King Henry VIII.

King Charles has made building bridges between people of all faiths a priority since he ascended the throne in September 2022 and is something he also championed as Prince of Wales.

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The visit to the Papal Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls, where reconciliation and ecumenical relations between Christian faiths are celebrated, is considered one of the central events of the monarch’s trip to the Vatican.

Choirs from the King’s Chapel Royal, St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle and the Sistine Chapel will perform.

English Kings had a particular link to the basilica before the split from Rome during the Protestant Reformation. The church was built over a white marble sarcophagus that for some 2000 years has been believed to be the tomb of St Paul.

The visit is taking place during the Papal Jubilee, a year of forgiveness and reconciliation that is celebrated by the Catholic Church every 25 years.

“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,” the palace said.

King Charles and Queen Camilla’s three-day trip begins on April 7 and will also include events in Italy and its capital, Rome, which surrounds Vatican City.

In Rome, His Majesty will highlight the close links between Britain and Italy, two NATO allies, at a time when European nations are working to bolster support for Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression.

The visit will include a joint flypast over Rome by the Italian Air Force aerobatic team, Frecce Tricolori, or Tricolor Arrows, and their Royal Air Force counterparts, the Red Arrows.

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King Charles and Queen Camilla will also attend a reception in Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, to mark the 80th anniversary of the region’s liberation from the Nazis by Allied forces on April 10, 1945.

The royals will also celebrate the cuisine of the Emilia-Romagna region and meet with local farmers devastated by floods that recently hit the area.

“The visit to Italy will underscore the depth and breadth of the bilateral relationship,” the palace said in a statement.

The couple will also mark their 20th anniversary during the visit, on April 9, when they will attend a state banquet.

The same day, King Charles is also set to become the first British monarch to address a joint session of Italian parliament.

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