The Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby celebrated an Anglican rite Mass on the morning of January 25th in the Catholic Basilica of San Bartolomeo, located on the banks of the Tiber River on the so-called Tiber Island of Rome.

At the beginning of his homily, the current Archbishop of Canterbury thanked Pope Francis for allowing him to conduct the Anglican ceremony in this Catholic church.

The ceremony is included in the official calendar of activities carried out in Rome during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which has been published on the website of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. In statements to ACI Prensa, Fr. Angelo Romano, Rector of the Basilica of San Bartolomeo in Rome, explained that the Anglican Mass took place “following a request from the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity” and its prefect, Cardinal Kurt Koch.

“We simply welcomed this liturgy from the Archbishop of Canterbury,” he noted, while clarifying that Catholic faithful did not participate in the celebration and assured that “it is not blasphemy”, but a gesture of “brotherhood with this church so close to ours”.

Justin Welby is in Rome as part of the ecumenical week and also to participate in the summit titled "Growing Together", organized by the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission.

On the afternoon of January 25th, the leader of the Anglican Church celebrated with Pope Francis the Second Vespers for the Solemnity of the Conversion of Saint Paul in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. Throughout the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, held from January 18th to 25th, various ecumenical events have taken place in the city of Rome.

Among them, a concert by an Anglican choir in Saint Peter's Basilica on January 23rd, also promoted by this Vatican Dicastery.

This article was originally published on ACI Prensa.