Two cardinals and six bishops will represent the Roman Catholic Church at the Anglican Communion's forthcoming Lambeth Conference, sources confirmed in Rome this week, as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, held private talks, his second to date, with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, writes Robert Mickens.

"It was a friendly and informal meeting in which we discussed a number of ecumenical issues, some of the Pope's impressions from his American visit and common issues in Christian-Muslim dialogue," Dr Williams said of Monday's encounter.

The meeting and the news of the Catholic delegation were interpreted by some commentators as Vatican support for Dr Williams, whose leadership has been challenged by some of his fellow Anglican bishops over disagreements on episcopal ordination for women and gays. But Catholic and Anglican sources in Rome told The Tablet that this sort of support should not be seen as extraordinary. They pointed out that it has always been Vatican policy to favour unity within other Churches and ecclesial bodies.

Although it has not yet been officially announced, the sources said that Cardinal Ivan Dias, an Indian who heads the Congregation for Evangelisation of Peoples at the Vatican, and Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, were to head the eight-member delegation of Catholic observers at the Lambeth Conference. The other six Catholic bishops were said to be from "different parts of the world".

Apparently Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican's top ecumenical official, will not attend the Anglican Communion's most important meeting. It was unclear why Cardinal Dias was to be the Vatican's top representative, but one Anglican source pointed out that Dr Williams had forged friendly relations with the cardinal in 2006 during his first official visit to the Vatican under Pope Benedict. The source also pointed out that it made sense for the head of the evangelisation office to be present since "mission" was to be a key element at Lambeth. The theme of the 16 July-3 August conference is "Equipping Bishops to Fulfil their Leadership Role in God's Mission".

Dr Williams was in Rome to preside at the seventh annual "Building Bridges" seminar, a two-day Muslim-Christian study session.