Pope Leo has called for Anglicans and Catholics to work to overcome differences, as he met with the first female Archbishop of Canterbury.
The pontiff welcomed Dame Sarah Mullally, who is the top bishop in the Church of England, to the Vatican on Monday.
While she made history as first woman to hold the high office of Archbishop of Canterbury in its 1,400-year history, the Catholic Church does not allow women to be ordained priests.
The Church of England first ordained women priests in 1994 and Dame Sarah had already made history by becoming the first woman to hold the role of Bishop of London.
She met the Pope for a private audience, after which each delivered an address and prayed together.
The pontiff referenced the first formal ecumenical statement between the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches, which was signed in Rome in 1966 between then-Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey and Pope Paul VI.
Pope Leo on Monday told Dame Sarah: “Certainly this ecumenical journey has been complex. While much progress has been made on some historically divisive issues, new problems have arisen in recent decades, rendering the pathway to full communion more difficult to discern.”
He did not set out which specific issues he was referring to, but echoed the words of his predecessor, the late Pope Francis, who told the Anglican Communion in 2024 that “it would be a scandal if, due to our divisions, we did not fulfil our common vocation to make Christ known”.
Pope Leo said: “For my part, I add that it would also be a scandal if we did not continue to work towards overcoming our differences, no matter how intractable they may appear.”
He said the “suffering world greatly needs the peace of Christ” and that the “divisions among Christians weakens our capacity to be effective bearers of that peace”.
For her part, Dame Sarah praised Pope Leo for speaking out about injustice in the world, and assured him of a “warm welcome” should he visit the UK.
The pair met at a time when both religious leaders have urged peace amid ongoing war.
The meeting comes just weeks after Donald Trump’s broadside at the Pope, who the US president branded “weak on crime, and terrible for foreign policy” and demanded the pontiff “focus on being a great Pope, not a politician”.
The leader of the world’s Catholics had used his first Easter message to strongly criticise war, calling on “those who have weapons (to) lay them down”.
Dame Sarah has previously said she stood in solidarity with the Pope’s calls for peace.
On Monday, in her address to him after their private meeting at the Apostolic Palace – a building which includes the Pope’s private apartment and top administrative offices of the Holy See – she paid tribute to him for speaking “powerfully about the many injustices in our world today”.
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.
It was a joy to worship with the community at All Saints’ Anglican Church in Rome this morning - and to baptise three children into God’s family as they begin their journey of faith.
— Archbishop of Canterbury (@ArchbishopSarah) April 26, 2026
We ended the afternoon with a beautiful Choral Evensong of St Paul’s within the Walls. And I was… pic.twitter.com/ZBxyEkgBho
“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 said while there is “inhuman violence, deep division and rapid societal change” in the world, “we must keep telling a more hopeful story”.
Dame Sarah also told the Pope the King had “valued his recent visit, especially the shared prayer and spirit of fraternity it embodied”.
In October, the King and Pope Leo made history when they prayed together in a symbolic moment of unity for Anglicans and Roman Catholics across the globe.
It was the first time a British monarch, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, had prayed at a public service with the Pope, head of the Catholic Church, since the Reformation.
The archbishop told the Pope: “Please be assured of a warm welcome from the Church of England should you honour the United Kingdom with a visit.”
Dame Sarah pledged to “remain united with you in prayer: prayer for peace in our world; prayer for justice; and prayer that every person may come to discover the fullness of life that God offers” in the years to come.
Among gifts offered to the Pope from the archbishop was a jar of honey made from nectar from beehives in Lambeth Palace Garden in London, described by her office as “a simple and hospitable token, rooted in place and daily life”.
After her audience, with the Pope, the archbishop joined the pontiff for a service of prayer in the Chapel of Urban VIII, with the pair saying the grace together.
The purpose of her visit to Rome is said by Lambeth Palace to be to “strengthen Anglican–Roman Catholic relations” and “aims to deepen bonds of communion, affirm a shared witness and encourage ongoing collaboration at both global and local levels”.
She is accompanied on the trip by Archbishop of Westminster Richard Moth, who is the leader of Catholics in England and Wales.
