Canterbury - With the formal enthronement in the cathedral, the Archbishop of Canterbury has now fully assumed her ministry as head of the Church of England and, symbolically, of the wider Anglican Communion. By tradition, this is a moment whose significance reaches beyond the national context and belongs within the broader balance of relations between the Christian Churches.
It is in this context that the message sent by Leo XIV to the new Archbishop, Sarah Mullally, should be read. It is a formal letter, yet one rich in ecclesial and theological references, in which the Pope acknowledges the weight of the office she has taken up “at a challenging moment in the history of the Anglican family”. The tone is one of encouragement, but without overlooking the difficulties: the Pope refers explicitly to responsibilities that extend beyond the Diocese of Canterbury and involve the whole Anglican Communion.
Leo XIV begins by recalling the spiritual foundation of ministry, invoking the gift of wisdom and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Pope also explicitly recalls the 1966 meeting between Saint Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey, presenting it as the beginning of a new phase in relations between Catholics and Anglicans. On that occasion, he notes, a path was opened that was marked by “Christian charity” and by theological dialogue, later expressed in the work of the Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC). Leo notes that this path has borne concrete fruit and continues to represent a real space for collaboration. At the same time, the Pontiff does not sidestep the difficulties. He refers to the tensions that have emerged in recent years and recalls the awareness, already expressed by Francis and Archbishop Justin Welby, that new circumstances have given rise to new disagreements. Even so, he insists on one point: differences do not erase the mutual recognition of one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, founded on baptism.
The perspective he sets out is clear: dialogue must continue “in truth and love”, because only in that way can a credible witness to the Gospel emerge. Unity, he stresses, is not an end in itself, but is directed towards mission: making Christ known in a world marked by fragility and conflict. Mullally replied in a letter sent from Lambeth Palace a few days after the enthronement. The new head of the Anglican Communion receives the Pope’s message as a concrete support for her ministry and acknowledges the value of the ecumenical journey, explicitly referring to the work of ARCIC and IARCCUM.
A significant convergence emerges in her text: dialogue between the Churches is described not simply as an institutional process, but as a shared vocation. The Archbishop takes up the phrase “truth and love”, making it the key to a common witness to the Gospel. There is also a direct reference to words spoken by Leo XIV in 2025, when he indicated among the priorities of the Bishop of Rome the restoration of full and visible communion among Christians. Mullally places herself explicitly within that perspective, defining her ministry as a service to unity within the Anglican Communion and in relations with the other Churches. The Archbishop describes the Christian community as a body called to receive the Word, to keep it, and to bring forth life for the world. Mullally explicitly asks for the Pope’s prayers for the Church of England and for the Anglican Communion, indicating in the Holy Spirit the principle that can guide a journey marked by gradual steps and inevitable tensions.
The dialogue between Rome and Canterbury continues, without ignoring the divergences yet without being reduced to them. At a time when the fractures within the Christian world remain evident, both sides point to the spiritual dimension and to common witness as the criteria by which the path ahead is to be guided.
R.V.
Silere non possum