First female Church of England leader meets Pope Leo in Vatican visit

Dame Sarah Mullally’s first foreign visit as Archbishop of Canterbury brought her into private talks, an exchange of gifts and shared prayer with Pope Leo XIV inside the Vatican’s Urban VIII Chapel, a carefully staged meeting that put the Church of England’s newest leader alongside the first U.S. pope and leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

Mullally, the first woman to lead the Church of England, met Leo at the Vatican on Monday during a four-day pilgrimage to Rome running from April 25 to 28. Lambeth Palace said the trip was meant to strengthen Anglican-Roman Catholic relations through prayer, personal encounter and formal theological dialogue, a sign that both churches still see value in high-level engagement despite centuries of separation.

The visit carried unusual weight because the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches split in 1534, yet have spent decades trying to narrow the divide. The Vatican said Leo welcomed Mullally during the Easter season and recalled the 60th anniversary of the 1966 Common Declaration signed by Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey, the first formal ecumenical declaration between the two churches. Leo also said Christians must keep working together despite continuing challenges, warning that divisions weaken their ability to bear Christ’s peace to the world.

Mullally used the meeting to praise Leo’s recent anti-war comments, saying the world needed that message after his Africa tour, where he sharply denounced war and despotism. She told him that countless people were working for the common good and said he would receive a warm welcome in the United Kingdom if he visits. Before arriving in Rome, Mullally had already backed Leo’s call for a “kingdom of peace,” urging people in political power to seek peaceful and just ways to resolve conflict.

The encounter also reflected the broader political and ecclesiastical tensions surrounding both leaders. Leo’s forceful public criticism of war has drawn irritation from President Donald Trump, while Mullally’s historic appointment has stirred mixed reactions in some more conservative Anglican provinces in Africa and Asia. The sequence of prayer in Canterbury in March, a blessing from Leo through Cardinal Kurt Koch, and now this Vatican meeting suggests the churches are not just exchanging courtesy calls. They are trying to shape the debate over war, peace and moral authority with a unified ecumenical voice.