Ecumenical collaboration emphasised as Anglican Centre director is installed in Rome

THE Archbishop of Canterbury had a private audience with Pope Francis in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on Friday morning, when he introduced his new Representative to the Holy See and Director of the Anglican Centre, the Most Revd Bernard Ntahoturi, formerly Primate of Burundi, and they discussed their concerns.

In a rare move, the Pope invited the two Anglican archbishops and their wives to lunch in his Santa Marta residence, where the conversation continued for more than an hour and a half.

Afterwards, Archbishop Welby described the encounter, his fourth official meeting with the Pope, as “full of meaning, but also full of joy, a good deal of laughter, very relaxed but very thoughtful”.

He said that they discussed areas of conflict and human trafficking, as well as how to face challenges and divisions within their own Churches. “You can’t be paralysed by disagreements,” Archbishop Welby said. “We have to see the call of Christ to be united in the service of the poor.”

Archbishop Welby spoke about a planned visit to South Sudan, which had “to be done at a moment when it can make an enormous difference” and “tip the balance towards peace”.

Both he and the Pope, he said, called on the country’s political leadership “to turn away from violence and think of the people of South Sudan”.

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