Archbishop of Canterbury meets and prays with Pope Leo XIV

[Archbishop of Canterbury] Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally on April 27 met and prayed with Pope Leo XIV at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City on the third day of her pilgrimage to Rome.

Mullally had a private meeting with Leo, after which the pontiff and the archbishop each gave an address. Mullally also introduced the pope to her delegation and exchanged gifts with him.

Following her audience, Mullally joined Leo at a service of Daytime Prayer in the Chapel of Urban VIII. The pope presided at the Office, and the pope and archbishop said the grace together.

Mullally was joined at the papal audience by the Most Rev. Richard Moth, Archbishop of Westminster; the Rt. Rev. Anthony Ball, director of the Anglican Centre in Rome; the Rev. Matthias Grebe, national adviser for ecumenical relations; and Margaret Cave, director for Episcopal ministry.

The following is the text of Mullally’s address.

---

Your Holiness, thank you for your gracious welcome, and for your prayers and kind wishes at the time of my installation. I am deeply grateful.

It is a joy and a privilege to be received by you, together with this delegation from Lambeth Palace. Last month I journeyed to my installation in Canterbury as a pilgrim, walking in the footsteps of those disciples who came before me. I have come to Rome as a pilgrim, continuing the journey that began in Canterbury. I am very pleased to be accompanied by Archbishop Richard Moth, who serves with me as a president of Churches Together in England. Archbishop Richard’s presence reflects our shared ecumenical commitment at home and reminds us that the ecumenical pilgrimage is always one we undertake together – as a fellowship of Christians seeking the unity for which Christ prayed.

We give thanks for the Anglican Centre in Rome, a living fruit of the historic 1966 meeting between Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey – a moment that marked a profound turning point in relations between our churches. That encounter continues to bear fruit through ARCIC, IARCCUM, and the many relationships of trust that have grown between our churches – signs of a shared confidence in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In our world today, we are called to live and 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.

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. I look forward to my own journey to Ghana and Cameroon in July, and to being with our brothers and sisters in Christ around the Anglican Communion in the years to come.

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.

Your Holiness, I am grateful that we are able to join in prayer this morning. In the years to come, I will 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. We are united in prayer because we pray to the Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Your Holiness, dear brother in Christ, in all this, we are sustained by hope – a hope grounded in Christ himself, who calls us forward, even when the way is not yet fully clear.

May we continue to walk together in that hope, trusting that the one who has begun this good work among us will bring it to completion.

I am 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 from the Church of England should you honor the United Kingdom with a visit.

With gratitude for your ministry as Bishop of Rome, and for your generous hospitality today, I assure you of my prayers as we journey together towards that unity which is the will of our Lord.

As your sister in Christ, in a spirit of prayer, friendship, and hope,

I commend our shared journey into the hands of God.