Pope Benedict XVI and the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams sought to ease tensions between the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches at "cordial" talks at the Vatican on Saturday.
The private meeting came just two weeks after the Vatican made it easier for disgruntled Anglicans to convert to Catholicism - a move that caught Williams off-guard, saying he was informed of it "at a very late stage."
In the meeting, described by the Vatican as "cordial" and by Williams as "friendly," the Anglican leader said he voiced "concern about the way in which the announcement... was handled."
"Clearly many Anglicans, myself included, felt that it put us in an awkward position for a time," Williams told Vatican Radio after the meeting.
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'... both sides have recognised that ecumenism has failed' However, he said, media descriptions of the Vatican's overture "as a kind of dawn raid on the Anglican Communion misunderstands the process that happened."
British news media had painted Williams' visit, though scheduled long before the controversy, as a "showdown" after the Vatican unveiled an "apostolic constitution" easing the way for Anglicans to join the Catholic fold.
The Times of London described the move, announced on October 20 and promulgated on November 9, as "potentially the most explosive development in Anglican-Catholic relations since the Reformation."
The Vatican statement said the two men recalled that a joint commission was to meet shortly to prepare a new round of "theological dialogue" between the two churches.
Williams said the pope's "main message... was that the constitution did not represent any change in the Vatican's attitude to the Anglican Communion as such."
'People are saying they are not being prevented from going forward' The Archbishop of Canterbury added that there was a "good chance" that matters such as the ordination of women and papal primacy would be on the table at the next round of talks.
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