The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, the Rt Revd Anthony Poggo, has shared a message of encouragement on the election of Pope Leo XIV.

The statement reads:

With great joy, we welcome the election and appointment of Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Pope and Bishop of Rome.

On behalf of the worldwide Anglican Communion, we share our prayers, celebration and encouragement as His Holiness takes up his global ministry in service of the Church.

May he lead with faithfulness, vision and courage, embodying the Christian values of peace and justice in service of mission and evangelisation.

At this point in history, the world and the Church face significant challenges. Crises of mass migration, war, poverty and division press upon us all. As ever, the most innocent and vulnerable in our societies suffer most severely.

We welcome Pope Leo’s commitment to building bridges through dialogue, and his summons to all the faithful to visible unity without fear.

The Anglican Communion remains committed to our collaboration with the Catholic Church in the friendship of Jesus, sustained by our formal ecumenical institutions and the pioneering ministry of the Anglican Centre in Rome.

The Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and the International Anglican–Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission (IARCCUM) help us to think and grow together. Anglicans and Roman Catholics look to these commissions — and the friendships that they enable —  in the spirit of Saint Augustine’s summons to the Communion of Love, founded in the whole Christ.

We pray that God will grant Pope Leo the strength to lead wisely and we assure him of our open arms in return. May we meet the Lord together again, as he comes to us and bids us not to be afraid (John 6:20).

Amen