Press Releases
Primate attends papal inauguration
Archbishop John McDowell attended the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV yesterday morning (Sunday, 18th May 2025) as part of a delegation of Primates and other representatives from the Anglican Communion.
The delegation was led by Archbishop Leonard Dawea, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Melanesia, and the other Primates attending were Archbishop Sean Rowe (Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church) and Archbishop Thabo Makgoba (Archbishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa).
It also included Archbishop Stephen Cottrell (Archbishop of York), Canon Maggie Swinson (Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council), Bishop Anthony Poggo (Secretary General of the Anglican Communion), Kathleen Snow (Worldwide President of Mothers’ Union), and several clergy involved in Anglican–Catholic relationships.
Archbishop McDowell said that he was delighted to be at the ceremony. He remarked: “The relationship between Catholics and Anglicans in Ireland is very strong and these occasions, in a way, almost do more than the theological dialogues to cement the partnership and the Gospel between the Churches.” The delegation’s symbolic attendance at the inauguration Mass, he added, was “of tremendous significance for Anglicans and for Catholics.”
:press::