Pope Leo XIV and Archbishop Mullally pray together, urge closer Anglican-Catholic ties

Pope Leo XIV welcomed Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally to the Apostolic Palace and then prayed with her in the Chapel of Urban VIII, a highly symbolic meeting that put fresh energy behind Anglican-Catholic dialogue while leaving old divisions in plain view. The two exchanged gifts and each delivered an address as Mullally, the first female Archbishop of Canterbury and the spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, made a four-day pilgrimage to Rome aimed at deepening relations through prayer, personal encounter and formal theological dialogue.

The encounter carried special weight because the Roman Catholic Church still maintains a male-only priesthood, while Mullally’s appointment marked a historic first for the Church of England. That tension framed the visit, even as both sides stressed that disagreement did not have to end cooperation. Vatican and Anglican officials have cast the meeting as part of a wider effort to keep the churches talking on issues where their moral voices often overlap, including war, migration and poverty.

Pope Leo said the visit recalled the 60th anniversary of the 1966 meeting between Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey, an encounter that led to the Common Declaration signed on March 24, 1966. That declaration is widely described by Anglican and Vatican sources as the first formal ecumenical statement between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church, and it opened a new phase in official relations. Leo also pointed to the Anglican Centre in Rome, established in 1966, as a continuing anchor for that relationship.

The pilgrimage included prayer at the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul, meetings with officials from the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and planned visits to the Joel Nafuma Refugee Centre and Sant’Egidio projects, underscoring how ecumenical diplomacy now stretches beyond doctrine into social action. Mullally’s delegation included the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Richard Moth, along with Anglican Centre in Rome director Anthony Ball, ecumenical adviser Matthias Grebe and Canon Margaret Cave.

Leo urged Catholics and Anglicans to keep working to overcome differences and not let current challenges block a common proclamation of Christ. In Eastertide, with both churches highlighting peace in their remarks, the message from Rome was clear: warmer ties can matter most when they move from ceremony to shared action, even if full unity remains out of reach.