The Pope & The King at Prayer

 So, a pope and a king go into a church to pray...

This is not the beginning of a joke but a prayerfully act of respect and ecumenical reciprocity between Pope Leo IV and King Charles III which took place today in Rome. Nearly five hundred years ago King Henry VIII of England broke from the Roman Catholic Church even though a few years before another Leo, X, had declared him Defender of the Faith. The psychopathic monarch formed the Church of England (Anglican) so that he could divorce his wife and marry again to produce an heir. Henry had a succession of wives, some of whom he executed, and his only son died young. 

The service of worship today was formal as these two leaders prayed together on behalf of their religious groups. This wasn't two Christians clasping hands, closing their eyes and hunkering down for a spontaneous heart-to-heart with God in Three Persons. It was liturgical prayer, scripted to mark this auspicious occasion. 

It isn't as though the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church haven't been in conversation before. It was King Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who was the first British monarch since the Reformation to make an official visit to the Holy See, meeting with John XXIII in 1961.The late Pope Francis and the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, travelled to Sudan to encourage peace. We do hope, though, that this symbolic act of reconciliation is one more step along the way of world-wide ecumenism and recognition of other expressions of faith. One silly critic has already huffed that Charles should abdicate for this egregious breach of duty to defend Anglicanism. 

King Charles and Pope Leo exchanged gifts with Charles receiving the chair pictured below -- perfect for watching television in the evening. Sauciness aside, It will, in fact, remain in the church. 

The Latin inscription Ut Unum Sint "that they may be one" is certainly appropriate for the occasion. If it seems vaguely familiar, the words Ut Omnes Unum Sint "that all may be one" have been inscribed on the logo of the United Church since the 1940s. We're always ahead of our time.