Sarah Mullally, who will be making her first trip abroad since her enthronement a month ago, will meet the leader of the 1.4 billion Catholics on Monday morning.
The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, the first woman to become the spiritual leader of the Anglicans, begins a four-day visit to Rome and the Vatican this Saturday, where she will be received by Pope Leo XIV.
Sarah Mullally, who will be making her first trip abroad since her enthronement a month ago, will meet the leader of the 1.4 billion Catholics on Monday morning. This audience with the pope comes sixty years after a historic meeting in 1966 between Archbishop Michael Ramsey and Paul VI, the first at this level since the creation of the Church of England in the 16th century after King Henry VIII’s break with Rome.
The relations between the two churches have steadily improved since, even though in 2016 their successors noted “new disagreements,” particularly on the ordination of women – making Sarah Mullally’s visit an important moment. The 63-year-old former nurse, married and mother of two, is the first woman to become the highest religious leader of the Church of England, which has 85 million faithful.
A visit that could shift boundaries
The first women bishops in the Anglican church were appointed in the United States in 1989, and they have been allowed within the Church of England since 2014, although the issue remains divisive. On the other hand, the Catholic Church has repeatedly rejected the idea of women priests, while male priests cannot marry – except for married Anglican priests wishing to convert.
Women’s rights activists, who had hoped for progress under the former Pope Francis, resigned last year, believing that Sarah Mullally’s visit could shift boundaries. “If a woman archbishop comes to see him, it might make Pope Leo XIV reflect a bit,” said Sylvaine Landrivon, AFP spokeswoman for the feminist Catholic association Magdala. “He will realize that women, who represent half of the people of God, have the same skills as men,” she added.
This visit, during which Sarah Mullally will also meet members of the Catholic community, comes six months after King Charles III became the very first Supreme Governor of the Church of England to pray at a pope’s side.
Common challenges
In a letter addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury for her enthronement, Pope Leo XIV – elected pope on May 8, 2025 – expressed his hope for a “reconciled, fraternal and united Christian community.” Archbishop Anthony Ball, representing the Archbishop at the Holy See, stressed to AFP that this meeting was “an important opportunity to build and establish a personal relationship” as well as to mark institutional ties.
Sarah Mullally praised the pope’s “courageous call” for peace earlier this month, after US President Donald Trump strongly criticized the pontiff’s calls to end the war in the Middle East.
The Archbishop of Canterbury and the pope face many common challenges, according to Anthony Ball, from pressing social issues like immigration, poverty, war, and the environment to addressing young people. Both their churches have also been shaken by revelations of sexual violence against minors by clergy members and their respective internal structures are being tested, amidst tensions between conservative and progressive factions on issues such as liturgy, same-sex marriage, and priestly celibacy.
“Moving forward together”
Sarah Mullally’s appointment deeply divided the Anglican Communion, both because of her gender and her support for same-sex marriage. Anthony Ball expects Pope Leo XIV to be “respectful” of the Archbishop’s appointment – and for her not to insist on the issue of women in the church. “I think she will be reluctant to be absorbed into someone else’s agenda, especially in another church than her own,” he emphasized. “She already has plenty to do within the Anglican Communion,” he added.
Pope Leo XIV also inherited from Francis a church divided on major societal issues. During his twelve years as pope, the charismatic Argentine reformer often irked traditionalists, especially in the United States and Africa, with his efforts to open the Catholic Church. According to Ball, both Sarah Mullally and Pope Leo XIV have so far shown “great listening skills.” “Leo XIV takes the time to listen, to hear, and to try to discern how to make people move forward together. And I think Archbishop Sarah is similar in that regard,” he noted.
