Pope Leo XIV has received the Archbishop of Canterbury, the highest authority of the Anglican Church, Sarah Mullally, at the Vatican. The meeting, held in the Apostolic Palace, constitutes the first formal encounter between both religious leaders.
Mullally is the first woman to lead the Anglican Church in its almost 500-year history. Last March 25, she assumed the primacy of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion, a branch of Christianity professed by around 97 million people globally.
The meeting is part of the process of strengthening ecumenical relations between Anglicanism and Catholicism, two Christian confessions with significant commonalities, though not without doctrinal differences.
In a speech delivered before the Archbishop and her entourage, the Pope emphasized the importance of unity among Christians as an essential condition for effectively conveying a message of peace to the world: “While our suffering world urgently needs the peace of Christ, divisions among Christians weaken our ability to bring it effectively. For the world to welcome our preaching, we must, therefore, persevere in prayer and in the effort to remove any obstacle that hinders the proclamation of the Gospel,” the pontiff stated. And he stressed that “unity” is a fundamental concept in his magisterium in general.
The Pope also acknowledged the complexity of the ecumenical path towards Christian unity and the presence of obstacles affecting the relationship between the different branches of Christianity, although he stressed the need not to give up on dialogue or cooperation. “Certainly, this ecumenical journey has been complex. While much progress has been made on some historically divisive issues, new problems have emerged in recent decades that make it difficult to discern the path to full communion. I know that the Anglican Communion also faces many of these same issues today. However, we must not allow these constant challenges to prevent us from seizing every possible opportunity to proclaim Christ together to the world,” the pontiff noted. And he concluded: “It would be a scandal if we did not continue to work to overcome our differences, however irreconcilable they may seem.”
This meeting in the Vatican reinforces the message that Leo XIV sent on March 26 for Mullally’s enthronement, where he expressed his intention to continue dialogue for Christian unity.
The private audience between both religious leaders has coincided with the 60th anniversary of the historic 1966 meeting between Paul VI and Michael Ramsey, which was the first formal meeting in 400 years between a pontiff and an Archbishop of Canterbury. Since then, it has been customary for popes and Archbishops of Canterbury to meet on certain occasions to discuss ecumenical issues and promote understanding between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.
Last October, a significant step forward was made in the current rapprochement process between both Christian traditions, when King Charles III, who also holds the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and Pope Leo XIV made history by praying together in communion in the Sistine Chapel. This had not happened for almost 500 years, specifically since the schism prompted by King Henry VIII in 1534 when Rome rejected his request to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Since then, the Holy See and the United Kingdom did not re-establish relations until 1914 and have only had ambassadors since 1982.
The Archbishop of Canterbury could not be present on that occasion, as she had not yet taken office.
At this moment, Mullally is undertaking a four-day pilgrimage to Rome, during which she has visited the main pontifical basilicas, where she has prayed before the tombs of the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul. She has also met with high-ranking Vatican officials.
Anglicanism, unlike Catholicism, approved the priestly ordination of women in 1992, and later, women bishops and archbishops began to be appointed, leading to the election of a woman as the highest authority of the Church of England.
The Archbishop, in her speech before the Pope, emphasized the need to strengthen joint work among Christians in the current context. “In the face of inhumane violence, deep division, and rapid social changes, we must continue to tell a more hopeful story: that all human life has infinite value because we are precious children of God; that the human family is called to live as brothers and sisters; that, therefore, we must work together for the common good, always building bridges, never walls,” Sarah Mullally stated.
And she applauded the Pope’s recent calls against “the numerous injustices plaguing our world today” and about “hope.” “The world needed this message at this time; thank you,” she noted.
She also advocated for fostering Christian unity. “Holiness, in the years to come, I will remain united with you in prayer: prayer for peace in our world; prayer for justice,” she assured. And she added: “In all this, we are sustained by hope, a hope founded in Christ himself, who calls us to move forward, even when the path is not yet entirely clear.”
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