Pope Leo meets Anglican leader Sarah Mullally

Pope Leo XIV met Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally at the Vatican on Monday, prayed with her, and said Catholics and Anglicans must keep working past their differences. (vaticannews.va) (apnews.com) The meeting took place in the Apostolic Palace, where Leo and Mullally prayed in the Urban VIII Chapel after a private audience and exchanged addresses. (vaticannews.va) (archbishopofcanterbury.org) Leo told Mullally that “we must not allow these continuing challenges” to stop both churches from using “every possible opportunity” to proclaim Christ together. (vatican.va) He tied the moment to a 60-year milestone: the 1966 meeting between Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey, a landmark in modern Catholic-Anglican dialogue. (vaticannews.va) (vatican.va) Mullally’s visit is her first official trip to Rome as Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Anglican Communion. Her pilgrimage runs from April 25 to April 28. (archbishopofcanterbury.org) (anglicannews.org) Her delegation includes representatives of the Anglican Communion and the Church of England, and on Monday evening she was due to commission Bishop Anthony Ball as her representative to the Holy See. (vatican.va) (archbishopofcanterbury.org) The symbolism is unusually pointed because Mullally is the first woman to lead the Church of England and the Anglican Communion, while the Catholic Church does not ordain women as priests or bishops. (apnews.com) (washingtonpost.com) Catholic-Anglican ties have also been strained by wider disputes inside the Anglican world, including debates over doctrine and authority among member churches. Leo referred in his address to “new problems” facing ecumenical dialogue. (ewtnvatican.com) (vatican.va) The Vatican encounter landed the same day Reuters reported that Leo had signaled he wants the Catholic Church to give greater weight to inequality and justice questions than to sexual ethics in public emphasis. (gmanetwork.com) (usnews.com) Taken together, Monday’s prayer and Leo’s language point to continuity in tone with Pope Francis: no announced doctrinal change, but a public stress on dialogue, peace, and common witness. (vatican.va) (gmanetwork.com) For now, the concrete outcome is modest but clear: the pope and the Anglican leader prayed side by side in Rome and publicly committed to keep talking. (vaticannews.va) (archbishopofcanterbury.org)