Most Rev Sarah Mullaly, the Archbishop of Canterbury, will make her first overseas visit in office next week, travelling to the Vatican for a four-day trip that includes a meeting with Pope Leo XIV.
The visit, which begins on 25th April, is being seen as symbolically significant for Anglican–Roman Catholic relations as well as a show of unity after both figureheads have been very vocal against the US war in Iran.
Writing for the Religion Media Centre, Catherine Pepinster said the choice of Rome for Dame Sarah’s first foreign visit “makes a statement”, noting that while she will also travel to Africa later this year, her initial focus on the Vatican will be closely watched across both communions.
She pointed out that the meeting continues a pattern of dialogue stretching back decades, particularly the landmark 1966 encounter between Archbishop Michael Ramsey and Pope Paul VI in the Sistine Chapel, the first official meeting between the two churches since the Reformation.
That meeting, described at the time as a “friendship and introduction to union”, led to a series of common declarations over the years reaffirming theological agreement on issues such as baptism, the Trinity and the creeds, while also acknowledging persistent divisions.
Archbishop Sarah’s visit is also “in a different league” historically, as she becomes the first female Archbishop of Canterbury to meet a pope, a development that earlier ecumenical documents had flagged as a continuing obstacle to full unity.
Despite these differences, recent decades have seen increasingly close relations between the two Churches.
Joint statements were issued following meetings between successive archbishops and popes, including Donald Coggan and Pope Paul VI in 1977, and Pope John Paul II’s UK visit in 1982, as well as discussions with Archbishop Robert Runcie in Rome in 1989 and Archbishop Rowan Williams in 2006.
More recently, Pope Leo XIV has indicated openness to expanding women’s roles in the Catholic Church, although a Vatican commission in 2025 ruled out the ordination of women as deacons.
Archbishop Sarah is expected to wear a historic episcopal ring during the visit, a tradition dating back to Pope Paul VI’s gift to Archbishop Ramsey in 1966.
Bishop Anthony Ball, the Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and Representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Holy See, said: “I very much look forward to welcoming Archbishop Sarah during her visit in this 60th anniversary year for the Anglican Centre in Rome.
"The Centre has continued to encourage dialogue and collaboration with the Catholic Church following Pope Leo’s election, in support of the vision for peace and social justice shared with the Anglican Communion.
"The visible unity of the Church and the building of bridges in a time of division and insecurity brings hope to many people around the world, and will remain a strong commitment under Archbishop Sarah’s leadership.”