The Archbishop of Canterbury will travel to Rome to meet Pope Leo in April.
The visit was announced as the pontiff and archbishop exchanged letters to mark Most Rev Dame Sarah Mullally’s installation at Canterbury Cathedral this week.
In his message, the Pope assured her of his prayers and acknowledged that the ecumenical journey has encountered difficulties because of theological differences. However, the letters expressed both leaders’ commitment to Christian unity and Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue.
Referring to the words of Pope Francis to Primates of the Anglican Communion in 2024 that “it would be a scandal if, due to our divisions, we did not fulfil our common vocation to make Christ known”, Pope Leo wrote: “Dear sister, I willingly make these words my own, for it is through the witness of a reconciled, fraternal and united Christian community that the proclamation of the Gospel will resound most clearly.”
In her message, Archbishop Sarah wrote: “As Archbishop of Canterbury, I too am called to serve as an instrument of communion within the Anglican Communion, and to seek the full and visible unity to which our Lord has called us all (John 17:21).”
She added: "I very much look forward to meeting Your Holiness in the near future and to continuing to strengthen the bonds of friendship and our shared commitment."
The Pope’s message was delivered and read to Archbishop Sarah the day after her installation by Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, at Canterbury Cathedral. It followed a service of prayer with the installation’s Roman Catholic delegation to mark the 60th anniversary of the Common Declaration of 24 March 1966, the first formal ecumenical statement between Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches.
The Archbishop of Canterbury will meet Pope Leo at the Vatican during her three-day visit to Rome, which begins on 25th April.
(Photo shows Archbishop Sarah and Cardinal Koch praying together at the site of the martyrdom of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.)