Fwd: Archbishop Sarah Mullally Visited the Vatican
Mary Hunt
Begin forwarded message:From: Kwok 'n' Roll <kwokp...@substack.com>Subject: Archbishop Sarah Mullally Visited the VaticanDate: May 2, 2026 at 10:23:24 PM EDTTo: mh...@hers.comReply-To: Kwok 'n' Roll <reply+38uufs&2mns5&&1771c79531d01978ba6ed8cbf0534c98...@mg1.substack.com>
What is the significance of the visit of Archbishop Sarah Mullally, the leader of the Anglican Communion, to the Vatican on April 27, 2026? Would there be any changes to the relationship between the two churches, which split nearly 500 years ago?
The archbishop took a four-day pilgrimage to Rome to strengthen Anglican–Roman Catholic relations through prayers, personal encounter, and theological dialogue. She wanted to deepen bonds of communion and shared witness, and encourage collaboration at both global and local levels. Before her visit, she had affirmed Pope Leo’s statements against war and seeking peace.
Archbishop Sarah gave Pope Leo a jar of Lambeth Palace Honey as one of her gifts (Credit: Vatican News) The Anglican Church separated from Rome when Henry VIII became the “supreme head of the Church of England,” following the English Parliament’s passage of the Act of Supremacy in 1534. Historical tensions and political factors have complicated the relationship between the two churches. In 1896, Pope Leo XIII’s papal bull Apostolicae curae declared Anglican holy orders “absolutely null and utterly void.” So it was significant that Pope Leo XIV had a private meeting with the archbishop, and the two prayed together at the Apostolic Palace’s Urban VIII Chapel.
Attempts at dialogue between the two churches began in 1915, when Pope Benedict approved a British Legation to the Vatican. The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) was more open to ecumenism and dialogues with other churches. In 1960, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, made a historic, though not entirely official, visit to the Vatican and met Pope John XXIII.
Archbishop Michael Ramsey paid an official visit to Pope Paul VI in 1966, and the following year, the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission was established. The Commission discussed the authority of Scripture, church authority, and Marian theology, among other issues. Later, the International Anglican–Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission was formed to encourage joint programs of witness and mission worldwide.
Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey Pope Leo XIV recalled the many decades of theological dialogues between the Catholics and Anglicans. He said,
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.
Some of these issues include women’s ordination, female episcopacy, and the debates around homosexuality. The pontiff noted that the Anglican Communion is facing many of these issues, but these challenges should not “prevent us from using every possible opportunity to proclaim Christ to the world together.”
Archbishop Sarah praised the pope for speaking “powerfully about the many injustices in our world today.” She added,
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.
Her visit to the Vatican, soon after her installation on March 25, indicated her commitment to strengthening ecumenical relations. It came on the heels of President Trump’s rebuff of the pope. It is important for religious leaders to stand firm against injustice and speak prophetically together.
Her presence at the Vatican put a spotlight on the issues of gender and sexuality in the church and elicited diverse reactions from Catholics. Gavin Ashenden, a former Anglican priest who converted to Catholicism, wrote in the conservative National Catholic Register that the warm welcome extended to the archbishop was a disservice to the Catholic Church. He said Mullally has shifted from being a conservative evangelical to a progressive liberal. He criticized Mullally for her “legitimization of the feminist agenda” by supporting abortion and her endorsement of the blessing of same-sex marriages.
But for some Catholic women, who have campaigned for women’s ordination, the archbishop’s visit brought new hope. For example, British Catholic theologian Tina Beattie saw the archbishop’s presence as “a catalyst for something very exciting.” The sight of a woman being received as the pope’s equal was a significant image, pointing to what can be achieved in the Catholic Church.
Other Catholic women were less optimistic. While Pope Leo has spoken on immigration and war, he had no intention of changing church teaching on ordination and opening the door for women. Catholic feminist theologian Mary E. Hunt has poignantly asked,
Will it be easier for Roman and Anglican leaders to agree on a way forward in terms of peace and nonviolence than it will be for them to agree on sex and gender in the church?. . . If church leaders can’t figure those things out at home, how much credibility should we give them in the global arena?
Hunt has made a significant point, because time and again, Christian denominations have sacrificed women and LGBTQ persons in the name of Christian unity and ecumenism. Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, has said that women’s ordination as bishops will destroy any chance of reuniting the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. After Gene Robinson, a gay man, became a bishop in The Episcopal Church in 2004, Pope John Paul II called off future talks between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.
Archbishop Sarah will need delicate diplomatic skills to handle pressures from all sides. The conservative Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON) has criticized her appointment as archbishop. At her installation at Canterbury Cathedral, 32 provinces of the Anglican Communion out of 42 were represented. Twenty-six primates (senior bishop or archbishop) and four official primatial representatives attended the service. This means a sizeable number of primates did not attend. She will visit the Anglican church in West Africa in July “to learn and listen” and foster deeper ecumenical relationships.
Archbishop Sarah needs to listen not only to primates and bishops, but to the women who make up the majority of the church. Many Anglican women were elated to see the first woman installed as the Archbishop of Canterbury and wished her well. We hope that she will bring significant changes to hasten the decolonization of the Anglican Communion, so that it becomes a truly polycentric and pluriphonic communion. The challenge for her is to stay close to the ground, attune to the pulse of grassroots Anglicans, and lead with a conciliatory, inclusive attitude.
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