The Archbishop and the Pope affirmed the bonds of "friendship" and "love" between Roman Catholics and Anglicans when they met for the first time in Rome this morning

In their first meeting, Archbishop Justin and Pope Francis both spoke this morning of the bonds of "friendship" and "love" between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. 

The two leaders agreed that the fruits of this dialogue and relationship have the potential to empower Christians around the world to demonstrate the love of Christ. 

The Archbishop and the Pope agreed on the need to build an economic system which promotes "the common good" to help those suffering in poverty. 

Archbishop Justin said that Christians must reflect "the self-giving love of Christ" by offering love and hospitality to the poor, and "love above all those tossed aside" by present crises around the world. 

The Pope said those with the least in society "must not be abandoned to the laws of an economy that seems at times to treat people as mere consumers". 

They also agreed on the need for Christians to act as peacemakers around the world, which they acknowledged could only be done if Christians "live and and work together in harmony," the Pope said. 

Archbishop Justin, who has been deeply influenced by Catholic social teaching and intends to focus on healing divisions in church and society as part of his ministry, told the Pope: "I pray that the nearness of our two inaugurations may serve the reconciliation of the world and the Church."

'Brothers and sisters'

The Pope, who said their closeness of their inaugurations meant "we will always have a particular reason to support one another in prayer", said today's meeting was an opportunity to remember that the search for unity among Christians is not prompted by practical considerations, but by Christ, "who made us his brothers and sisters, children of the One Father." 

The Archbishop, who was accompanied by his wife, Caroline, visited the tomb of St Peter beneath the Basilica before praying at the tomb of Pope John Paul II. He was also joined by Archbishop Vincent Nichols, as well as Archbishop David Moxon, his representative to the Holy See. 

After meeting Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the Archbishop met the Pope at the Apostolic Palace. The pair held a private conversation, before giving public addresses and attending a service of midday prayer together. 

In his address to the Pope, the Archbishop praised the work of popes and archbishops of Canterbury over the past fifty years to bring the Roman Catholic church and the Anglican Communion closer together.

Honouring the custom for archbishops of Canterbury visiting the Vatican, Archbishop Justin wore the episcopal ring famously given to Archbishop Michael Ramsey by Pope Paul VI in 1966. The ring, which Archbishop Michael wore until the day he died, is kept at Lambeth Palace and has become a symbol of fraternal love and efforts towards reconciliation between Roman Catholics and Anglicans. 

Recalling the words of Pope Paul VI to Archbishop Michael, the Archbishop told Pope Francis: "I am coming to a place where I can feel myself at home."

'Love for the poor'

Archbishop Justin told the Pope that they must promote "the fruits of our dialogue".

He continued: "And, with our fellow bishops, we must give expression to our unity in faith through prayer and evangelisation. It is only as the world sees Christians growing visibly in unity that it will accept through us the divine message of peace and reconciliation."

Both the Archbishop and the Pope acknowledged that differences between Roman Catholics and Anglicans have caused pain in the past and would present challenges in the future. 

But the Archbishop said that a firm foundation of friendship "will enable us to be hopeful in speaking to one another about those differences". Meanwhile the Pope said recent decades had been marked by "a journey of rapprochement and fraternity". 

Suggesting further areas of common focus between the two leaders, the Archbishop spoke of the need for Christians to demonstrate "the self-giving love of Christ" in hospitality and love for the poor. 

"We must love those who seek to oppose us, and love above all those tossed aside—even whole nations—by the present crises around the world.  Also, even as we speak, our brothers and sisters in Christ suffer terribly from violence, oppression and war, from bad government and unjust economic systems.  If we are not their advocates in the name of Christ, who will be?"

Lowly but chosen 

Archbishop Justin presented Pope Francis with the motto of the Pope - 'Miserando atque eligendo' - in gold letters on vellum.

The motto, meaning lowly but chosen (literally in Latin, 'by having mercy, by choosing him') is a quote from an English Church Father, Bede, whose 'Ecclesiastical History' charts the union of the different strands of British Christianity relating in and through Rome to the Universal Church. 

READ ARCHBISHOP JUSTIN AND POPE FRANCIS'S ADDRESSES TO EACH OTHER: 

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Address to His Holiness Pope Francis on the occasion of the Archbishop’s first fraternal visit to Rome 

Apostolic Palace, Vatican City, 14 June 2013

Your Holiness,

Dear Friends:

I am full of love and gratitude to be here.  In the last few days we have been remembering the death of Blessed Pope John XXIII in the midst of the Second Vatican Council.  At the Requiem said at Lambeth Palace fifty years ago this weekend by Archbishop Michael Ramsey, my much-loved predecessor said of him:  ‘Pope John has shown us again the power of being, by being a man who touches human hearts with charity.  So there has come to many a new longing for the unity of all Christians, and a new knowledge that however long the road may be, charity already makes all the difference to it.’

Having for many years found inspiration in the great corpus of Catholic social teaching, and worked on its implications with Catholic groups;  having spent retreats in new orders of the Church in France, and being accompanied by the Prior of another new order;  I do indeed feel that I am (in the words of Pope Paul VI to Archbishop Michael) coming to a place where I can feel myself at home.

Your Holiness, we are called by the Holy Spirit of God, through our fraternal love, to continue the work that has been the precious gift to popes and archbishops of Canterbury for these past fifty years, and of which this famous ring is the enduring token.  I pray that the nearness of our two inaugurations may serve the reconciliation of the world and the Church.

As you have stressed, we must promote the fruits of our dialogue;  and, with our fellow bishops, we must give expression to our unity in faith through prayer and evangelisation.  It is only as the world sees Christians growing visibly in unity that it will accept through us the divine message of peace and reconciliation.

However, the journey is testing and we cannot be unaware that differences exist about how we bring the Christian faith to bear on the challenges thrown up by modern society.  But our ‘goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey’ (Benedict XVI, Spe salvi 1), and we can trust in the prayer of Christ, ‘ut omnes unum sint’ (Jn 17.21).  A firm foundation of friendship will enable us to be hopeful in speaking to one another about those differences, to bear one another’s burdens, and to be open to sharing the discernment of a way forward that is faithful to the mind of Christ pressed upon us as disciples.

That way forward must reflect the self-giving love of Christ, our bearing of his Cross, and our dying to ourselves so as to live with Christ, which will show itself in hospitality and love for the poor.  We must love those who seek to oppose us, and love above all those tossed aside—even whole nations—by the present crises around the world.  Also, even as we speak, our brothers and sisters in Christ suffer terribly from violence, oppression and war, from bad government and unjust economic systems.  If we are not their advocates in the name of Christ, who will be?

Your Holiness, dear brother, I assure you of the love, respect and prayer of the bishops, clergy and people of the Anglican Communion.

His Holiness Pope Francis' Address to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the occasion of the Archbishop’s first fraternal visit to Rome 

Apostolic Palace, Vatican City, 14 June 2013

Your Grace, Dear Friends, 

Paul VI, when he addressed Archbishop Michael Ramsey during his historic visit in 1966: “Your steps have not brought you to a foreign dwelling ... we are pleased to open the doors to you, and with the doors, our heart, pleased and honoured as we are ... to welcome you ‘not as a guest or a stranger, but as a fellow citizen of the Saints and the Family of God’” (cf. Eph 2:19-20).

I know that during Your Grace’s installation in Canterbury Cathedral you remembered in prayer the new Bishop of Rome. I am deeply grateful to you – and since we began our respective ministries within days of each other, I think we will always have a particular reason to support one another in prayer.

The history of relations between the Church of England and the Catholic Church is long and complex, and not without pain. Recent decades, however, have been marked by a journey of rapprochement and fraternity, and for this we give heartfelt thanks to God. This journey has been brought about both via theological dialogue, through the work of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, and via the growth of cordial relations at every level through shared daily lives in a spirit of profound mutual respect and sincere cooperation. In this regard, I am very pleased to welcome alongside you Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster. These firm bonds of friendship have enabled us to remain on course even when difficulties have arisen in our theological dialogue that were greater than we could have foreseen at the start of our journey.

I am grateful, too, for the sincere efforts the Church of England has made to understand the reasons that led my Predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, to provide a canonical structure able to respond to the wishes of those groups of Anglicans who have asked to be received collectively into the Catholic Church: I am sure this will enable the spiritual, liturgical and pastoral traditions that form the Anglican patrimony to be better known and appreciated in the Catholic world.

Today’s meeting is an opportunity to remind ourselves that the search for unity among Christians is prompted not by practical considerations, but by the will of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who made us his brothers and sisters, children of the One Father. Hence the prayer that we make today is of fundamental importance.

This prayer gives a fresh impulse to our daily efforts to grow towards unity, which are concretely expressed in our cooperation in various areas of daily life. Particularly important among these is our witness to the reference to God and the promotion of Christian values in a world that seems at times to call into question some of the foundations of society, such as respect for the sacredness of human life or the importance of the institution of the family built on marriage, a value that you yourself have had occasion to recall recently.

Then there is the effort to achieve greater social justice, to build an economic system that is at the service of man and promotes the common good. Among our tasks as witnesses to the love of Christ is that of giving a voice to the cry of the poor, so that they are not abandoned to the laws of an economy that seems at times to treat people as mere consumers.

I know that Your Grace is especially sensitive to all these questions, in which we share many ideas, and I am also aware of your commitment to foster reconciliation and resolution of conflicts between nations. In this regard, together with Archbishop Nichols, you have urged the authorities to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian conflict such as would guarantee the security of the entire population, including the minorities, not least among whom are the ancient local Christian communities. As you yourself have observed, we Christians bring peace and grace as a treasure to be offered to the world, but these gifts can bear fruit only when Christians live and work together in harmony. This makes it easier to contribute to building relations of respect and peaceful coexistence with those who belong to other religious traditions, and with non-believers.

The unity we so earnestly long for is a gift that comes from above and it is rooted in our communion of love with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As Christ himself promised, “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). Let us travel the path towards unity, fraternally united in charity and with Jesus Christ as our constant point of reference. In our worship of Jesus Christ we will find the foundation and raison d’être of our journey. May the merciful Father hear and grant the prayers that we make to him together. Let us place all our hope in him who “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Eph 3:20).