Pope and first female Archbishop of Canterbury meet, pray together

A landmark Vatican meeting brought together Pope Leo and Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally for the first time, as the heads of the Catholic Church and the Church of England exchanged gifts and prayed side by side in a powerful gesture of unity.

At the Vatican’s ornate apostolic palace, Pope Leo — the first US leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics — received Archbishop Mullally, the first woman to become spiritual leader of the world’s 85 million Anglicans, in his formal office.

The pair, whose churches split bitterly in 1534, held a private meeting before walking together to a 17th century chapel, where they recited prayers in unison.

In formal remarks, Archbishop Mullally praised Pope Leo’s newly assertive public tone, highlighted during his four-nation Africa tour, where he issued sharp condemnations of war and despotism and drew the ire of US President ⁠Donald Trump.

“It reminded us that despite our sufferings, people long for life in all its fullness, and countless people are working each day for this vision of the common good.”

Pope Leo said the Catholic Church and the Church of England had made progress in building closer ties, while acknowledging that “new problems have arisen in recent decades,” without elaborating on what those problems were.

“We must not allow these continuing challenges ‌to prevent us from using every possible opportunity to proclaim Christ to the world together,” he said.

Archbishop Sarah Mullally said she was “humbled” to meet Pope Leo

Mullally marks historic shift for Anglicans

Mullally, who is in Rome this week, was installed as Archbishop of Canterbury in March, marking a historic change that prompted mixed reactions across the global Anglican Communion, especially in more conservative provinces in Africa and Asia.

Before the meeting, she told ITV News she felt “very humbled, very privileged” ⁠to meet Pope Leo.

“There ‌is a long relationship and fellowship between the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church … we will continue to build on that relationship,” she said.

The Church of England broke from Rome in 1534 after Pope Clement VII refused King Henry VIII’s request for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of ⁠Aragon.

For centuries, the two denominations stood in fierce opposition, but in recent decades they have moved toward closer cooperation.

They share common ground on many major issues, ⁠although the Catholic Church does not ordain women and generally does not permit priests to marry.

In her remarks to the pope, Archbishop Mullally pledged to remain united with him in prayer.

“We receive from one another gifts we cannot generate alone – depth in prayer, courage in witness, perseverance in suffering, and faithfulness in service,” she said.

Britain’s King Charles, the supreme governor of the Church of England, paid a state visit to the Vatican in October.

During that visit, he and Pope Leo prayed together in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, the first ‌such act of joint worship involving a pope and a British monarch since the reign of Henry VIII.