Last week’s photograph of Pope Francis embracing the female leader of the Church of Sweden, Archbishop Antje Jackelén, was a stark reminder not only of how close the Catholic Church has come to other denominations like the Lutherans, but also how far apart they still are. The same could be said of the Pope’s meeting with Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury. In both cases the issue of women’s ordination to the priesthood stands like a locked gate on the path to further church unity. Is there nothing else that could be done to narrow the gap between the denominations?

This year, when the 500th anniversary of the Reformation is being commemorated with such warmth, there is one other source of division that could be looked at again – the Catholic Church’s rules regarding the admission to Holy Communion of members of other Churches.