US EditionArchbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally prays with Pope Leo XIV at Vatican in historic meeting
The meeting underscored efforts to ease divisions over women’s ordination and other disputes, as the Anglican Communion counts about 100 million members in 165 countries.
- On Monday, Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally arrived at the Vatican for an audience with Pope Leo XIV, holding a moment of prayer in the Urban VIII Chapel during her first foreign visit as leader of the Church of England.
- This year marks the 60th anniversary of the first formal ecumenical statement between the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches, signed by Archbishop Michael Ramsey and Pope Paul; the visit aims to strengthen ties through prayer and dialogue despite ongoing theological differences.
- While Mullally is on a four-day pilgrimage to Rome visiting basilicas and meeting Vatican officials, her appointment has split the Anglican Communion of 100 million members in 165 countries, with groups like Gafcon threatening a final break over LGBTQ inclusion.
- Pope Leo XIV congratulated Mullally on her installation, though he acknowledged she assumed leadership at a "challenging" time, noting that "new circumstances have presented new disagreements among us," Leo wrote.
- Mullally expressed solidarity with Leo's peace message after the American-born Pope Leo XIV faced criticism from President Donald Trump regarding Iran, building on the Oct prayer meeting between Leo and King Charles III at the Vatican.
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66 Articles
Pope Leon XIV met on Monday with the first woman to lead the community of Anglican Christians around the world - the newly-invested Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, urging the unit for a more effective evangelization. The Vatican papal audience takes place in the year that 60 years have passed since the first official ecumenical declaration between the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church, signed in 1966. The visit, part of wha…
Evening Standard
perspectivemedia.comPope meeting significant ‘regardless of me being a woman’, says archbishop
Dame Sarah is the first female to hold the top ministry role in the Church of England, while the Catholic Church does not allow women priests.
"Divisions among Christians weaken our ability to be effective agents of peace," the Pope told Sarah Mullally.
Pope Leo XIV prays with Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally in historic encounter
The encounter between Christianity's two most famous religious figures would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, given the divisions between their two churches over women's ordination in general and Mullally's appointment in particular.
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