Pope and Archbishop of Canterbury exchange letters on Archbishop Sarah’s Installation

26 March 2026 • Persistent link: iarccum.org/?p=5531

Cardinal Kurt Koch reads a letter from Pope Leo XIV to Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally (26 Mar. 2026). Photo: Neil Turner/Lambeth Palace

Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally and Cardinal Kurt Koch knelt in prayer together at the shrine of St Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral (26 Mar. 2026). Photo: Neil Turner/Lambeth Palace

The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, speaking at an ecumenical service of Morning Prayer in Canterbury Cathedral to mark the 60th anniversary of the Common Declaration of Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey (26 Mar. 2026). Photo: Neil Turner/Lambeth Palace

The Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury have exchanged letters expressing their commitment to Christian unity and Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue.

The greetings come as Lambeth Palace confirms today that Archbishop Sarah Mullally will visit Rome from 25 – 28th April. During the visit the Archbishop will meet with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

Pope Leo XIV wrote to Archbishop Sarah Mullally on the occasion of her Installation, which was held at Canterbury Cathedral yesterday. The Pope said he prayed she might “be guided by the Holy Spirit” and “draw inspiration from the example of Mary, the Mother of God.”

In response, Archbishop Sarah thanked the Pope for his prayers, and assured him of her own. “I am deeply grateful for your gracious letter, and for the assurance of your prayers at the time of my installation as Archbishop of Canterbury,” she wrote. “Your words of encouragement, and your invocation of the Holy Spirit’s guidance, are received with profound appreciation.”

In her message, which was sent to Pope today, the Archbishop wrote: “As Archbishop of Canterbury, I too am called to serve as an instrument of communion within the Anglican Communion, and to seek the full and visible unity to which our Lord has called us all (John 17:21).”

She added: “I very much look forward to meeting Your Holiness in the near future and to continuing to strengthen the bonds of friendship and our shared commitment.”

The Pope’s message was delivered and read to Archbishop Sarah this morning by His Eminence Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, at Canterbury Cathedral. This followed a service of prayer with the Roman Catholic delegation at Archbishop Sarah’s Installation to mark the 60th anniversary of the Common Declaration of 24 March 1966, the first formal ecumenical statement between Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches.

Held the day after Archbishop Sarah’s Installation, the service commemorated the historic 1966 meeting between Archbishop Michael Ramsey and Pope St Paul VI. Following Morning Prayer, Archbishop Sarah and Cardinal Koch prayed together at the site of the martyrdom of St Thomas Becket in the Cathedral Quire, mirroring Pope St John Paul II and Archbishop Robert Runcie’s visit to the site in 1982.

At the Vatican in 2024, Pope Francis told the Primates of the Anglican Communion that “it would be a scandal if, due to our divisions, we did not fulfil our common vocation to make Christ known.”

Referring to these words in his letter, Pope Leo added: “Dear sister, I willingly make these words my own, for it is through the witness of a reconciled, fraternal and united Christian community that the proclamation of the Gospel will resound most clearly.”

Speaking after this morning’s service, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: “Sixty years ago, Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey set before our Churches a vision of reconciliation grounded in charity, truth, and a shared desire for unity in Christ. Their meeting marked a new beginning in Anglican-Roman Catholic relations – one that continues to bear fruit in dialogue, friendship, and common witness across the world. I give thanks for this shared journey, which continues to grow, not least through the recent state visit of His Majesty The King to Pope Leo XIV in Rome.

“Through ongoing dialogue, including the work of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission (IARCCUM), we continue to seek that unity in Christ, in whom we find both the source and the fulfilment of our communion. We pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide us into all truth, deepen our fellowship, and lead us ever closer to the visible unity for which Christ prayed.”

Attendees at Morning Prayer today included His Eminence Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity; Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York; Archbishop Flavio Pace, Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity; and Bishop Anthony Ball, Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Representative to the Holy See.

The Anglican Centre in Rome was established following the Declaration and serves as the permanent Anglican Communion presence in Rome, working to deepen friendship and collaboration with the Roman Catholic Church.