Pope Leo meets Archbishop of Canterbury at Vatican

The Pope and the Archbishop met in the papal library on April 27, and the two then prayed together in the Urban VIII Chapel inside the Apostolic Palace for what the Vatican said was a “moment of prayer”. Archbishop Mullally’s office said Leo presided and that they both “said the grace together”.

Pope Leo acknowledged that “new problems” in the relationship between the churches had been added onto “historically divisive issues”. But he nevertheless vowed to continue the tradition of past popes to continue to try to reunite the churches.

The Pope quoted the late Pope Francis as telling Anglican primates that “it would be a scandal if, due to our divisions, we did not fulfil our common vocation to make Christ known”.

“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,” Pope Leo said.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the first formal ecumenical statement between the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches, signed in 1966 by Archbishop Michael Ramsey and St Paul VI.

In her remarks to Pope Leo, Archbishop Mullally said both of them were called 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,” she said.

“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.”

Archbishop Mullallay also told Pope Leo, who has just returned from a four-nation African voyage, that she would soon be following in his footsteps with a visit to Cameroon and Ghana in July.

“Your pilgrimage to Africa was full of life and joy,” she said. “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.”

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Pope prays with Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally in historic encounter, vows dialogue (By Nicole Winfield/Associated Press/National Catholic Reporter)