The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
45°F
Current Conditions
Overcast clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Anglican leader and pope share ceremony

Pope Benedict XVI arrives with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, left, at a Rome basilica Saturday. (Associated Press)
Associated Press

ROME – Pope Benedict XVI presided over a ceremony in a Rome church Saturday with the Archbishop of Canterbury, saying he hopes their presence together will spur both Catholics and Anglicans to pray and work for unity.

Benedict led a vespers service Saturday evening at which both he and Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of the world’s Anglican Communion, gave homilies. The two held private talks at the Vatican earlier Saturday, but no details were released.

While the pope has made Christian unity a theme of his papacy, he has also created tensions with Williams.

In 2009, Benedict issued an unprecedented invitation to Anglicans to become Catholics in groups or as parishes, just as many traditional Anglicans were upset by their church’s ordination of women and gay bishops.