Explainer-Why the joint prayer of Pope Leo and King Charles symbolises reconciliation

LONDON (Reuters) -The sight of King Charles praying with Pope Leo at the Vatican's Sistine Chapel signalled the latest step in a historic reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion five centuries after they split.

Here are details about the rift and the significance of the first joint worship including an English monarch and a Catholic pontiff in at least five centuries.

CHARLES PRAYS WITH POPE LEO IN SISTINE CHAPEL

As monarch, Charles is the supreme governor of the Church of England and a very distant descendant of King Henry VIII who broke with Rome in 1534, primarily to divorce his first wife and marry again, in the hope of producing an heir.     

Ties between the two churches have been steadily improving for decades but the first joint worship of an English monarch and a Catholic pontiff since the English Reformation was described by the Catholic Herald as "a genuine step forward in Christian unity rather than a matter of state formality".

Charles was seated at the pope's left near the altar of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel as Pope Leo and Anglican Archbishop Stephen Cottrell led a service.

The King will travel in the afternoon to Rome's Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, one of Catholicism's four most venerated churches, where Leo has approved giving him a new title of "Royal Confrater", or brother, at the connected abbey.

Charles will also be gifted a special seat in the apse of the basilica. The wooden chair, reserved in the future for use only by British monarchs, is decorated with the king's coat of arms and the ecumenical motto "Ut unum sint" (That they may be one).

WHY IS THE JOINT WORSHIP SYMBOLIC FOR THE TWO CHURCHES?

The English Reformation separated the Church of England from the authority of the pope in Rome, and came after Pope Clement VII refused to annul Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

Henry's desire for a male heir was the immediate catalyst for the rupture and he went on to marry Anne Boleyn, the second of his six wives.

Soon after the English church broke away from Rome, it adopted most of the tenets of the Protestant Reformation. Although the teachings of the Catholic Church and Anglican Communion align on many major issues, significant differences remain.

In the following centuries, Catholics were denied rights and privileges in Britain, and seen as potential traitors due to an allegiance to the pope, before an act of parliament in 1829 allowed them to enter parliament or high office.

A 300-year-old ban on the heir to the throne marrying a Catholic was overturned in 2013.

WHAT HAS CHARLES SAID ABOUT HIS SUPPORT FOR ALL FAITHS?

Charles has a long history of meeting with the leaders of different faiths, and promoting inter-faith dialogue. 

In 1994 he expressed a desire to be called "Defender of Faith" rather than "Defender of the Faith", triggering some criticism due to his role as the head of the Church of England.

The Church of England is one of 46 autonomous churches across some 165 countries that together form the Anglican Communion.

British monarchs still have defender of the faith in their official title, which Henry VIII was given by the then pope, before he broke with Rome.  

Speaking to faith leaders in September 2022, shortly after his accession to the throne, Charles said he held himself "bound to respect those who follow other spiritual paths, as well as those who seek to live their lives in accordance with secular ideals". 

(Reporting by Kate Holton in London, Joshua McElwee in Rome; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)