Archbishop Sione Ulu'ilakepa and Archbishop Don Tamihere have joined their first in-person Primates’ Meeting in Rome this April 29 -2 May. There they met as the leaders of the Anglican Communion alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Reverend Justin Welby and took part in a special audience with His Holiness Pope Francis. 

Speaking on the first day of the Primates’ Meeting, Archbishop Don felt the difference it made to be together in one place. 

“It’s been a wonderful time in getting to know each other. We’ve spent time in prayer. We’ve spent time in study, we’ve spent time in pilgrimage, and we’ve come here to the Basilica of Saint Paul – the place where his body lies.”

“It’s reminded us of what we have in common – the beauty of our faith, the deep traditions that we hold, but more importantly that even though we’re from across the globe, from many diverse countries, we are one family.

“And it’s been interesting to see how quickly that’s happened today, [it’s the] first day, less than twelve hours, and all of these wonderful servants and leaders from around the world are acting like they’ve been brothers and sisters all along.” 

Meeting in Rome for the first time, the Anglican Primates were invited to a private audience with Pope Francis where he shared with them his reflections on the importance of unity, the relationship between the two churches and the gift of synodality. 

“Only a love that becomes gratuitous service, only the love that Jesus taught and embodies, will bring separated Christians closer to one another,” said the Pope in his talk with the Anglican Primates.

“Only that love, which does not appeal to the past in order to remain aloof or to point a finger, only that love which in God’s name puts our brothers and sisters before the ironclad defence of our own religious structures, only that love will unite us.”

Archbishop Sione Ulu'ilakepa was moved by meeting Pope Francis, whom he found to be a humble and genuine servant of God.

“When we went to meet the Pope – as Primates of the Anglican Communion – he met us with humility and offered assurance, compassion, and a desire to look to one another in a loving way.” 

Archbishop Sione was also encouraged to spend time with his brother and sister Primates face to face.

“I came away from the Primates’ meeting with a renewed sense of looking into the Church, striving to fit in with one another, to empower one another, to celebrate and rejoice in what we find in common.”

Archbishop Don said it was clear that previous Primates’ Meetings had suffered from divisions over some Provinces’ pastoral and theological responses to human sexuality. But he said there was a change this time.

“There’s a fatigue with division amongst the leadership of the Anglican Communion.”

“When we focus on what we have in common, on the challenges and the flourishing in our Provinces, we are drawn to each other.”

During their meeting the Anglican Primates were hosted as pilgrims in Rome by Archbishop Ian Ernst, Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, who accompanied them to the city’s holy sites, such as the Abbey of Tre Fontane, the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls and the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. 

The Primates also met with the Community of Sant’Egidio, a lay Catholic order, to hear about their work accompanying people seeking asylum in Rome, and their care for migrants arriving in Italy to work their way out of poverty. 

The Primates then turned to looking at structures and relationships that bind together the Anglican Communion. They heard from the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity Faith and Order (IASCUFO), which advises the Communion on issues of doctrine, ecclesiology, liturgy, canon law and ecumenical relations.

Archbishop Don and Archbishop Sione reported that before they headed to Rome they were already united in their response to structures that would have divested the Archbishop of Canterbury of aspects of his role.

“We had discussed the proposal to change the Archbishop of Canterbury’s role to an elected position from among the Primates, and we agreed that it was not our ecclesiology, and not our culture, to depose the Archbishops of Canterbury from their historic role as instruments of Communion.”

“When we arrived at the meeting we found the Primates were of one mind on that.”

That said, the Primates also agreed there is more work to do in revisiting how the Communion sees itself today. 

IASCUFO Chair Bishop Graham Tomlin explained how the Communion’s self-understanding as a family of churches that is centred on the Church of England hadn’t changed in official papers since 1930, while the nature of the Communion and its churches’ self-understanding had changed significantly since then. 

“One of the questions for us on the commission … was what is the ongoing role for the Church of England within the Anglican Communion in a post-colonial world?”

Following the IASCUFO presentation, the Primates came to a unanimous decision that now is the time for the Anglican Communion to rethink its self-understanding and reflect that in official texts.

Archbishop Sione and Archbishop Don came away with a renewed sense of connection to their global peers, but also a stronger sense of who they are as Anglicans in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia.

“We left feeling proud of our place in the world and what we have to contribute – we linked arms with our brother [Archbishop] Leonard [Dawea] and left thinking that we need to live more into who we are in this place.”

The full communique of the Primates’ Meeting is here.