Welby and Francis to hold second meeting on trafficking

THE ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury is to have a second meeting with Pope Francis in Rome next month to discuss their joint initiative to tackle slavery and human trafficking.

The latest meeting of Archbishop Justin Welby and the Pope takes place almost exactly a year after their initial one. Both took up their posts within a week of each other and were seen as outsiders at the time of their appointment.

During his trip, from 14 to 16 June, the archbishop will visit the Anglican Centre in Rome, a refugee project and the Sant’Egidio community. He will also meet members of Chemin Neuf, the French Catholic ecumenical movement. Four members of Chemin Neuf this year took up residence in Lambeth Palace.

Meanwhile, the archbishop was this week in Pakistan to support the country’s embattled Christian minority. The week-long trip, which also includes India and Bangladesh, is part of a plan to visit every Anglican primate by the end of the year.