24 October 2025
Speaking about the historic visit of HM King Charles III and HM Queen Camilla to The Vatican at which the King and Pope Leo XIII prayed together, the Rt Revd Michael Ipgrave, Bishop of Lichfield said:
“In recent decades there have been warm relations between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church re-established. Pope Francis and Archbishop Justin prayed together as did Pope Benedict and Archbishop Rowan and Pope John Paul II and George Carey. I, like many Anglicans, will welcome seeing the King participating in prayer with Pope Leo, and with the Archbishop of York playing a part alongside. Locally, that will include many in our churches here in Lichfield Diocese, where we enjoy close and warm relations with our Roman Catholic colleagues in our respective parishes and between Lichfield Diocese and the Archdioceses of Birmingham and Shrewsbury where the presence of the Shrine of St Chad in Lichfield Cathedral provides an additional focus to these relationships.”
ENDS