ROME (LifeSiteNews) — The female “archbishop” of Canterbury was recently asked if she discussed “women priests” with Pope Leo XIV.
In an interview at the Venerable English College in Rome, where English Catholic seminarians train for the priesthood, shortly after her private audience with Leo on Monday, Sarah Mullally was asked whether she discussed “the ministry of women” with the Pope.
“Well, the issue of ministry is an issue for the Roman Catholic Church,” she said. “We met as pastors, and we talked about those issues in the world, like some of the conflicts, and the need for the church to offer hope to people. We talked about his Africa trip, which was really hopeful, full of life and full of joy.”
A misleading clip of the interview has gone viral which attributes a different answer to Mullally than the one she gave above. In that clip Mullally appears to evade the question and hint that the Catholic Church’s ban on “women priests” is an “injustice.” But the Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury told LifeSiteNews that the clip “splice(s) together a different question and answer to create this misleading impression.”
Mulally’s visit had already caused controversy when a photo of her giving a “blessing” near the tomb of St. Peter was circulated online. In the picture, Archbishop Flavio Pace, Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, can be seen bowing his head and making the Sign of the Cross as though receiving a real blessing from her.
After their meeting, the Pope said, “This ecumenical journey has been complex” and, “While much progress has been made on some historically divisive issues, new problems have arisen in recent decades, rendering the pathway to full communion more difficult to discern.”
Addressing Mullally directly, the Pope said: “Your Grace, in thanking you for your visit today, I pray that the same Holy Spirit will remain with you always, making you fruitful in the service to which you have been called.”
The female “archbishop” said in the interview that she viewed the meeting as an encouragement, describing it as “a privilege and humbling,” and that it was characterized by “great warmth and a great encouragement and of hope.”
She said, “We both recognized that regardless of me being a woman, this is a significant moment in that both our churches have been on a journey together to deepen our friendship, to pray together, and to seek that unity to which we are called.”
“And therefore this was an important meeting for us to commit together that we will continue that journey and pilgrim pathway of praying together, deepening our fellowship, but also living out that unity to which we are called,” Mullally concluded.
This article has been updated on May 1, 2026.