There’s excitement in Christian circles today about the first meeting of Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby. The two men have important things in common. Both reached their positions of power from unusual backgrounds: Welby from the evangelical HTB movement; Francis from the Society of Jesus. Both have spent quite a lot of time attacking unregulated financial capitalism. Both shun traditional pomp. They both speak to a charismatic Christianity, modern and global, which stresses social justice and proselytisation above theological rigour and tradition. They are also Christians with whom secular liberals can do business.
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But will having such apparently compatible leaders make any meaningful difference to Catholic-Anglican relations? The Catholic blogger William Oddie says no. ‘Why do we continue talking to the Anglicans after they have so wilfully made unity impossible?’ he asked, in a blog post that has irritated senior bishops.
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