50 years ago: The Archbishop of Canterbury visits the pope

On December 2, 1960 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Reverend Geoffrey Fisher, met with Pope John XXIII at the Vatican for about an hour; it was the first time in more than 500 years that a head of the Church of England had visited a pope. Spokesmen for both churches stressed the cordiality of the meeting and the potential value of the contacts established. However, a Vatican press service communiqué said that the conversation did not cover the subject of church unity (as they used to say in Get Smart, "I find very hard to believe").