The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will meet Pope Francis at the Vatican next month, Lambeth Palace has announced.
The Anglican leader will be received by the Pope in private audience on the morning of June 16th, at the end of a three day visit to Rome.
This will be Dr. Welby’s second visit to Pope Francis, the first taking place last June.
The upcoming June 14-16 visit will focus on the Global Freedom Network, a joint modern slavery and human trafficking initiative launched by Dr. Welby and Pope Francis in March. The initiative aims to underscore the destructiveness of modern slavery and human trafficking, involving an estimated 12-27 million people, and calls for urgent action by all other Christian churches and global faiths.
Dr. Welby will also see a church-based refugee project and visit the lay Catholic Sant’Egidio community. He will also meet members of the international ecumenical Catholic foundation Chemin Neuf, and visit the Monastery of San Gregorio al Celio for ecumenical vespers.
