Church of Ireland primate John McDowell meets Pope Francis during meeting at Vatican

After the high-level church gathering, Archbishop McDowell, an East Belfast man, has returned to Northern Ireland to prepare for the annual general synod of his church in Armagh next Friday-Saturday May 10-11, the first time the synod will have been held in the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland in five years.

At the synod, the 600-plus delegates from the bishopry, clergy and laity will debate and take decisions on issues of faith, education, social matters and mission work affecting parishes in the 11 dioceses across Ireland.

Archbishop McDowell will deliver the main address on Friday to synod delegates and he is expected to speak on matters relevant to his church membership. Earlier, a service of holy communion will be held in held in St Patrick' Church of Ireland cathedral.

The general synod will also discuss new guidelines for events and dialogue with people from non-Christian faiths; the next phase of its Mind Matters mental health awareness programme; support for refugees through the primate’s reference group on ethnic diversity, inclusion and racial justice. The synod is also expected to confirm opposition to euthanasia or assisted dying which is now a topic of heated discussion in the UK.

* In the hour-long Vatican meeting with the Anglican primates, Pope Francis shared words of encouragement and affirmation, In conversation, responding to questions from those gathered. In his address, Pope Francis spoke about themes of synodality, church unity and the prioritisation of relationships, Christian love and service.

He said: "Only a love that becomes gratuitous service, only the love that Jesus taught and embodies, will bring separated Christians closer to one another. 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 iron clad defence of our own religious structures, only that love will unite us."

This was a significant event in a week in which the Anglican primates ’gathered for pilgrimage, prayer and discussion about joint mission and witness, along with conversation about synodality, structures and decision making in the Anglican Communion. Deepening synodality (or journeying together and collaborating as Christian sisters and brothers) has always been an important principle of Anglican primate meetings, which have been one of the four instruments of the Anglican Communion since 1978.

Primates of the Anglican Communion represent diverse cultural settings and Christian traditions, but through the primates’ meeting they come together to discuss shared priorities and concerns and discern ways to cultivate shared wisdom and consensus.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rev Justin Welby spoke of the significance of the Pope’s address, its significance to Anglican primates.

He said: "It was an address of unity and synodality and of the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church, which took our eyes away from ourselves and lifted them to the faithfulness of God in Jesus Christ and the gift of the Spirit."