The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO) held its annual meeting in Rome from 7 to 11 December 2025. The Commission’s role is to promote the deepening of communion between Anglican churches, and between Anglicans and other churches, including with regard to ecumenical dialogue, co-operation and agreement. Members include bishops and theologians from around the world.

On Wednesday 10 December, the members of IASCUFO attended the Pope Leo XIV’s General Audience in St Peter’s Square. Many of the commission members greeted the Holy Father.

Pope Leo's address to the pilgrims gathered was entitled: 'Jesus Christ our hope. IV. The Resurrection of Christ and the challenges of the contemporary world. 7. The Pasch of Jesus Christ: the final answer to the question of our death.'

In an excerpt from the address, the Pope said: 'The event of the Resurrection of Christ reveals to us that death is not opposed to life, but rather is a constitutive part of it, as the passage to eternal life. The Pasch of Jesus gives us a foretaste, in this time still full of suffering and trials, of the fullness of what will happen after death.'

It concluded: 'The Risen One has gone before us in the great trial of death, emerging victorious thanks to the power of divine Love. Thus, he has prepared for us the place of eternal rest, the home where we are awaited; he has given us the fullness of life in which there are no longer any shadows and contradictions.

'Thanks to Him, who died and rose again for love, with Saint Francis we can call death our “sister”. Awaiting it with the sure hope of the Resurrection preserves us from the fear of disappearing forever and prepares us for the joy of life without end.'

Anglicans and Catholics meet together at the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity

Following the Papal Audience, IASCUFO attended a meeting at the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. Following greetings from the Prefect, Cardinal Kurt Koch, and the Secretary-General of the Anglican Communion, Bishop Anthony Poggo, a discussion between IASCUFO and several officials of the Dicastery took place. Among the topics discussed was the Anglican Communion’s response to the Dicastery’s study document on The Bishop of Rome and IASCUFO’s Nairobi-Cairo Proposals on the renewal of the Anglican Instruments of Communion, which are due to be presented to the Anglican Consultative Council in 2026. The meeting was facilitated by Revd Fr Martin Browne OSB, the Dicastery’s official for relations with the Anglican Communion.

IASCUFO's week of dialogue 

The meeting with Pope Leo and the dicastery was an important feature of IASCUFO's programme in Rome. A major focus of the weeklong meeting was discussion on The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals. These have been drafted by IASCUFO, following a commission by ACC-18 in 2023. The purpose of the proposals is to look at the structures of the Communion and offer ways to address divisions and disagreements in the Anglican Communion. Published in Advent 2024, the proposals will be discussed at ACC-19 in Belfast in 2026. 

In Rome, IASUCFO considered responses from member churches and other Anglican bodies to the proposals and noted that further responses are anticipated. Their communique noted that supplementary work was explored in preparation for reporting to ACC-19. 

The IASCUFO programme was also supported by Bishop Anthony Ball, Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and Representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Holy See

For further information

Credit: The Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity was used a source for some of the article. 

Read the Communiqué from IASCUFO.

Read the Nairobi Cairo Proposals

Read the full message of Pope Leo during the Papal Audience on December 10, 2025. 

Learn more about the Anglican Centre in Rome