VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As Britain’s King Charles III walks into Westminster Abbey for his coronation, he’ll stroll behind a processional cross containing a relic of Christ’s cross given to the king by Pope Francis.

“The fragments of the relic of the true cross had been donated by the Holy See in early April, by means of the apostolic nunciature, to His Majesty King Charles III, supreme governor of the Church of England, as an ecumenical gesture on the event of the centenary of the Anglican Church in Wales,” Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press workplace mentioned April 20.

A Vatican official mentioned the 2 fragments within the coronation cross got here from a relic preserved within the Lipsanoteca Room of the Vatican Museums.

The fragments now are underneath glass within the heart of the coronation cross, which is made from recycled silver bullion.

Anglican Archbishop Andrew John of Wales blessed the cross throughout a service April 19.

The Anglican Church in Wales, which refers back to the cross because the Cross of Wales, mentioned it’s inscribed on the again with phrases, in Welsh, from the final sermon of St. David, a sixth-century bishop and patron saint of Wales: “Be joyful. Preserve the religion. Do the little issues.”

King Charles has given the cross to the Christians of Wales, and after the coronation it will likely be shared by the Anglican and Catholic church buildings there.

“With a way of deep pleasure, we embrace this cross, kindly given by King Charles, and containing a relic of the true cross, generously gifted by the Holy See,” mentioned Catholic Archbishop Mark O’Toole of Cardiff in an announcement revealed on the Church in Wales web site.

The cross “will not be solely an indication of the deep Christian roots of our nation however will, I’m certain, encourage us all to mannequin our lives on the love given by our savior, Jesus Christ,” Archbishop O’Toole mentioned.

Chris Trott, the British ambassador to the Holy See, mentioned on Twitter that “we’re deeply moved and grateful to Pope Francis for this extraordinary present.”

The present of the relic, he mentioned, displays the energy of the connection between the Holy See and Nice Britain, a “relationship that developed over the course of the reign of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth, who met 5 popes!”

Msgr. Ervin Lengyel, secretary of the Vatican nunciature in London, tweeted: “In a major ecumenical gesture, the Cross of Wales will incorporate a relic of the true cross, the non-public present of Pope Francis to His Majesty the King to mark the coronation.”

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