Pope Francis gifts two fragments of True Cross for King Charles’ coronation

Two fragments from the True Cross – said to have been used in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ – are to be part of King Charles III’s coronation on May 6.

'The Cross of Wales' is seen ahead of a blessing ceremony at Holy Trinity Church in Llandudno, north Wales. Picture: AFP

Two fragments from the True Cross – said to have been used in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ – are to be part of King Charles III’s coronation on May 6.

The pieces of wood, a personal gift from Pope Francis to Charles, were formally presented to the Royal Household by Vatican representatives at the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace.

The King has organised for the wooden fragments, – both shaped as small crosses, one 1cm and the other a tiny 5mm – to be inserted into the new Wales Cross which will be carried at the front of the procession into Westminster Abbey at the coronation.

They have been set behind a rose gemstone in the Wales Cross, which has been crafted from recycled silver bullion from the Royal Mint at Llantrisant, some Welsh windfall timber and Welsh slate to reflect Charles’ connections to Wales.

Archbishop of Wales, Andrew John, takes part in a ceremony to bless The Cross of Wales at Holy Trinity Church in Llandudno, north Wales. Picture: AFP

Having not been carbon dated, the wooden fragments will maintain the mystery of the True Cross, which started when Helena, the mother of Roman emperor Constantine the Great, claimed to have found the cross during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 326.

She uncovered three crosses, nails and the “Titulus Crucis” – a sign that read “Jesus the Nazarene King of the Jews” that was hung on the cross.

Over the centuries, the cross was then reported to have been broken up, with various fragments claimed from Brussels to Serbia, to Rome to Pennsylvania. One piece is supposedly even at the bottom of the Black Sea, having been placed in the chapel of the Russian flagship Moskva, which was sunk off Crimea in April 2022.

The Archbishop of Cardiff and Bishop of Menevia, Mark O’Toole, said of the Wales Cross: “With a sense of deep joy we embrace this cross, kindly given by King Charles, and containing a relic of the True Cross, generously gifted by the Holy See.”

Pope Francis had met the King, now head of the Church of England, back in 2019 when Charles was Prince of Wales.

The two were at the canonisation of a British 19th century religious figure, Cardinal Newman, who had promoted reconnection of the Anglican Church with Catholicism in the mid 1800s.