(LifeSiteNews) — The female Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury has given a “blessing” at the tomb of St. Peter with a Catholic archbishop present.

A photograph of Sarah Mullally giving a “blessing” at the tomb of St. Peter in the catacombs underneath St. Peter’s Basilica has caused controversy online. The picture was taken on Saturday, April 25, during Mullally’s visit to the Vatican.

To the left of Mullally, the picture shows Archbishop Flavio Pace, Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, bowing his head and making the Sign of the Cross as though receiving a valid blessing from Mullally.

What is sacrilege! Right in front of the bones of Saint Peter the first of the apostles the fake ‘Archbishop’ gives a blessing while a Catholic Bishop bows pic.twitter.com/kIOnRmVy2Z

— John-Henry Westen (@JhWesten) April 26, 2026

LifeSiteNews CEO and Editor-in-Chief John-Henry Westen wrote an X: “What [a] sacrilege! Right in front of the bones of Saint Peter, the first of the apostles, the fake ‘Archbishop’ gives a blessing while a Catholic Bishop bows.”

The Catholic Church does not consider the ordinations of the Anglican Church valid and, furthermore, teaches that it is impossible for women to be validly ordained priests or bishops.

Pace was present to accompany Mullally and show her around the Vatican during her visit, which culminated in a private audience with Pope Leo XIV on Monday.

“It’s hard to express just how wrong this is,” Westen wrote on X. “This woman – ‘Archbishop’ Sarah – is a mockery of Holy Orders and a walking falsehood. Yet she is officially paraded into the sacred Clementine Chapel of St. Peter’s Basilica to give a blessing… and tomorrow she meets with Pope Leo XIV. This is the same Pope who refuses to meet with the legitimate bishops and priests of the SSPX. Lord, have mercy on Your Church.“

It’s hard to express just how wrong this is.
This woman — ‘Archbishop’ Sarah — is a mockery of Holy Orders and a walking falsehood. Yet she is officially paraded into the sacred Clementine Chapel of St. Peter’s Basilica to give a blessing… and tomorrow she meets with Pope Leo… pic.twitter.com/MrJmpdWefx

— John-Henry Westen (@JhWesten) April 26, 2026

Mullally has been described as “woke” over her support for the LGBT agenda and for having made pro-abortion comments in the past, which she has not retracted.