Pope Leo XIV and the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, met for the first time on Monday at the Vatican. In a symbolic encounter, the leaders of the long-separated Catholic Church and Church of England exchanged gifts and prayed together.
Archbishop Mullally is on a four-day pilgrimage to Rome which Lambeth Palace says is designed to strengthen Anglican-Roman Catholic relations.
The meeting highlighted warming ties between the two major Christian denominations, as well as longstanding differences on the ordination of women. Such an encounter would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, given the divisions between their two churches over women's ordination in general and Mullally's appointment in particular.
At the Vatican, the Anglican archbishop met a pope who has signaled no intention to change Catholic doctrine to allow ordaining women.