The dispute was resolved in 1213 when John conceded power to the Pope by becoming his vassal and agreed to pay feudal taxes to the Catholic Church.

But when Charles I married a French Catholic princess named Henrietta Maria, he obtained the blessing of Pope Gregory XV, who used the opportunity to despatch Gregorio Panzani to England as his envoy.

Sir John Coxe Hippisley's brief mission to Rome to explore the possibility of restoring relations failed in 1779–1780.

In 1792, the British court despatched Sir John Coxe Hippisley to Rome as envoy, a position he held until 1795.

During the Irish tenants'-rights Plan of Campaign in the 1880s, the Papacy condemned the activities in the encyclical "Saepe Nos" (1888), even though most of the tenants were Catholics.

[3] The United Kingdom did not re-establish relations with the Holy See until December 1914, following the outbreak of the First World War, as the British government was apprehensive about possible growing German and Austrian influence over Vatican policies.

On 1 June 1974, Pope Paul VI called on all armed factions to take part in peace talks:[5] We earnestly beg that all violence should cease, from whatever side it may come, for it is contrary to the law of God and to a Christian and civilized way of life; that, in response to the common Christian conscience and the voice of reason, a climate of mutual trust and dialogue be reestablished in justice and charity; that the real and deep-seated causes of social unrest – which are not to be reduced to differences of a religious nature – be identified and eliminated.The Holy See also supported the British efforts at bringing to an end to racial segregation in Rhodesia (present day Zimbabwe)[6] and commended Queen Elizabeth II for her activities for peace among nations, and for peace between Catholics and Anglicans.

[citation needed] On 9 September 2011, Ambassador Nigel Marcus Baker presented his credentials to Pope Benedict XVI.

In his speech, the British Ambassador presented three main goals of Vatican-UK relations, namely facing existential threats such as climate change and nuclear proliferation, promoting interfaith dialogue to achieve peace and working to reduce world poverty.

In a break with normal arrangements for state visits he arrived in Edinburgh rather than London and was granted an audience of Queen Elizabeth II at her official residence in Scotland, the Palace of Holyrood House.

On the evening of the same day he celebrated the second Papal Mass ever held in Scotland at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow, with over 250,000 Scottish Catholics in attendance.

[11] The first Papal Mass in Scotland was celebrated by his predecessor Pope John Paul II at Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, during his pastoral visit in 1982.