A gift for King Charles III, an ecumenical gesture for the centenary of the Anglican Church in Wales (AFP or licensors)
By Vatican News
Apr 25 2023
The Director of the Holy See Press Office confirms that the Holy See earlier this month donated relics of the True Cross to Charles III, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, as an ecumenical gesture.
Responding to journalists’ questions, the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, confirmed today, Thursday, 20 April, that “fragments of the Relic of the True Cross were donated by the Holy See in early April, through the Apostolic Nunciature, to His Majesty King Charles III, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, as an ecumenical gesture on the occasion of the centenary of the Anglican Church in Wales.”
The reference is to the gift of two small wooden fragments of the Cross on which, according to Christian tradition, Jesus was crucified. Preserved in the Vatican, the precious relics were delivered in recent days to the Royal Chapel of St. James in London.
News of the donation was made public by the British media and confirmed in a tweet by the British Ambassador to the Holy See, Christopher Trott. Monsignor Ervin Lengyel, Counsellor to the Apostolic Nunciature in Great Britain, later retweeted the news on his own Twitter account. – Vatican News
