THE Archbishop of Canterbury has praised the Pope for speaking out against injustice and about hope; has commended working together for the common good; and has endorsed the strengthening power of common witness, in an address after a private meeting at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on Monday morning.
She prayed with Pope Leo on this, the third day of a four-day visit that she has termed a pilgrimage, “continuing the journey that began in Canterbury”, and told him: “It is a joy and a privilege to be received by you, together with this delegation from Lambeth Palace.”
Giving thanks for the Anglican Centre in Rome, which she described as “a living fruit of the historic 1966 meeting between Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey”, she said that that historic encounter continued to bear fruit through the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, “and the many relationships of trust that have grown between our two Churches — signs of a shared confidence in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“In our world today, we are called to live and to preach the gospel with renewed clarity. In the face of inhuman violence, deep division, and rapid societal change, we must keep telling a more hopeful story: that every human life has infinite value because we are precious children of God; that the human family is called to live as sisters and brothers; that we must therefore work together for the common good — always building bridges, never walls; that the poorest among us are closest to the heart of God; and that the forces of death are overcome by the risen life of Christ. This is the vision of Jesus Christ — it must be where we fix our eyes in the years to come.”
Archbishop Mullally is due to travel to Ghana and Cameroon in July, on the first of her visits around the Anglican Communion in the coming years. She said: “Your Holiness, you have spoken powerfully about the many injustices in our world today, but you have spoken even more powerfully about hope. Your pilgrimage to Africa was full of life and joy. The world needed this message at this time — thank you. 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.”
She told him: “Before ordination, I was a nurse, and that experience continues to shape my ministry. God continues to call me to a ministry of being alongside others in their suffering and sadness, and in their healing and joy.
“As I begin this ministry, I hope to be a shepherd who loves and cares for the Church, who encourages hospitality despite our differences, who speaks prophetically into our present reality, and who proclaims Christian hope with the confidence that the gospel of Jesus Christ remains good news for our world today.
“In our ecumenical journey, I believe the Holy Spirit is inviting us into a deeper practice of hospitality — not simply as welcome, but as a form of ministry: a willingness to make space for one another as those created in the image of God and called to grow more fully into his likeness.
“Already, we receive from one another gifts we cannot generate alone: depth in prayer, courage in witness, perseverance in suffering, and faithfulness in service. In these, our common witness is strengthened.”
She continued: “May we continue to work together in that hope, trusting that the one who has begun this good work among us will bring it to completion. I’m mindful, too, of how much His Majesty the King valued his recent visit, especially the shared prayer and spirit of fraternity it embodied. Please be assured of a warm welcome for the Church of England should you honour the United Kingdom with a visit.”
The Archbishop presented the Pope with gifts: an antique edition (1910) copy of The Dream of Gerontius by St John Henry Newman; a Peruvian retablo — a traditional devotional artwork — depicting the nativity scene, offered with particular sensitivity to Pope Leo’s many years’ pastoral ministry in Peru; and the personal gift of a jar of honey from the beehives in Lambeth Palace Gardens.
This was the first time that the two have met face to face, but they have already spoken in solidarity over calls for peace, after criticism of the Pope by President Trump.
“It’s the first visit, and I think the first purpose is to start to build a relationship and to pray together; so it’s a spiritual encounter,” the Bishop in Europe, Dr Robert Innes, told Radio 4’s Sunday before the visit.
“I don’t expect there’ll be any kind of deep theological statement issued as a result, but I hope they will talk about the eucharist and ways in which we can deepen our mutual understanding and togetherness so that they’ll give renewed impetus to those other organs of inter-Church co-operation.”
A statement from Lambeth Palace before the visit said that its purpose was “to strengthen Anglican-Roman Catholic relations through prayer, personal encounter, and formal theological dialogue. It aims to deepen bonds of communion, affirm a shared witness, and encourage ongoing collaboration at both global and local levels.”
Before the visit, the Archbishop had asked Anglicans across the Church of England and around the Anglican Communion to “join and journey with me in prayer. Our world needs the peace, justice, and hope that Jesus Christ brings, and I give thanks that our Churches can walk together as we share that good news with the world.”
On Saturday, she prayed in the papal basilica’s St Peter’s and St Paul Outside the Walls.
Concerning speculation about whether the two would be pictured praying together, Dr Innes said: “I don’t know whether we will see pictures of that encounter, but I was here when King Charles came and prayed with the Pope, and the visual image of them praying together in the Sistine Chapel was very memorable and remarkable. The symbolic impact of these kinds of occasions is what carries the ecumenical movement forward.”
On Sunday morning, the Archbishop presided at a sung eucharist with holy baptism in All Saints’, Rome, the Church of England congregation in the city, before preaching at evensong at St Paul’s Within the Walls, part of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, later in the afternoon.
She also made pilgrim visits to pray at the pontifical basilicas St John Lateran and St Mary Major.
She was due to join the Pope for midday prayer today in the chapel of Urban VIII. She will also meet officials from the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and will be given a tour of the Vatican Museums.
Tonight, she will officiate at choral evensong in the Chiesa di Sant’Ignazio di Loyola, where she will commission the director of of the Anglican Centre, Bishop Anthony Ball, as her Representative to the Holy See.