New Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally, the first woman to lead the world’s Anglican Christians, heads to Rome and the Vatican this weekend for an audience with Pope Leo XIV.
Mullally will meet the head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics during a four-day visit starting Saturday, her first abroad since being enthroned last month as the Church of England’s top cleric.
The audience comes 60 years after a historic meeting in 1966 between then archbishop Michael Ramsey and pope Paul VI, the first at that level since the Church of England was created in the 16th century, when king Henry VIII broke with Rome.
Relations have been steadily improving since although in 2016 their successors noted “new disagreements”, particularly on the ordination of the women — making Mullally’s visit a significant moment.
