Dr Rowan Williams met with the Pope to try to heal the rift over moves by the Vatican to make it easier for Anglicans upset over the ordination of women and homosexual bishops to become Catholic.In an interview with Vatican Radio after the meeting, Dr Williams said he did not believe that changes to the Catholic Church's Apostolic Constitution had been made as part of a deliberate attempt to poach members of his church.
However, he added: "Naturally, I wanted to express some of the concerns about the way in which the announcement of the constitution had been handled and received.
"Clearly many Anglicans, myself included, felt that it put us in an awkward position for a time – not the content [of the constitution] so much as some of the messages that were given out.
"I needed to share with the Pope some of those concerns. I think those were expressed and heard in a very friendly spirit."
He said people were wrong to think that the Catholic Church had been trying to attract Anglicans with "advertising or special officers".
"The presentation of the constitution as a kind of dawn raid on the Anglican communion misunderstands the process that happens and the actual nature of the constitution," he said.
"People become Roman Catholics because they want to become Roman Catholics because their consciences are formed in a certain way and they believe this is the will of God for them."
In a further sign of reconciliation, the Pope endorsed the reopening of talks between Catholics and Anglicans, which had stalled following dismay in the Catholic Church over what it perceived as an increasingly liberal agenda in the Communion.
A statement released by the Vatican said that the two religious leaders had "turned to the challenges facing all Christian communities at the beginning of this millennium, and to the need to promote forms of collaboration and shared witness in facing these challenges".
It added that the discussions "focused on recent events affecting relations between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion".
In an act of rich symbolism, the Pope gave the archbishop a gift of a pectoral cross, the large cross which bishops wear around their neck.
A Vatican spokesman described the gift as "a sign of friendship and fraternity", but it also reaffirms that the Pope recognises Dr Williams as a bishop.
One of Dr Williams's most senior advisers, the Rev Canon Jonathan Goodall, will remain in Rome to begin a new round of dialogue designed to build closer ties.
The changes to the Apostolic Constitution would allow Anglicans to convert to Catholicism while preserving many of their traditions and practices.
Hundreds of Anglo-Catholic clergy could convert to Roman Catholicism if the Church's General Synod endorses new plans to introduce women bishops without making concessions for opponents of the move.
Sources in Rome said that Dr Williams's standing had risen over the course of the visit.
"He hasn't flinched from bringing up difficult subjects, and has been respectful without being deferential," the source said.
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