The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Pope Benedict pledged commitment to ecumenical dialogue on Thursday but admitted that Catholic-Anglican relations had stuttered in the last decade.
The Anglican communion's acceptance of gay and women priests was clearly referred to in the joint declaration they both signed after Williams and the pope met in the Vatican.
"Our long journey together makes it necessary to recognise publicly the challenge represented by the new developments which present serious obstacles to our ecumenical progress," the document said.
The visit by the leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans marked the 40th anniversary of a landmark meeting between Michael Ramsey, then head of the Anglican Church, and Pope Paul VI.
That meeting was the first ever between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches and produced a commitment to begin dialogue aimed at eventually healing their 400-year division.
The Anglican Communion, headed by the Church of England, came into being in the 16th century when England's King Henry VIII broke with Rome.
Moves to encourage ecumenical relations took a severe blow earlier this year when the Episcopal Church in the United States appointed the openly gay priest Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire.
The Catholic Church, which has 1.1 billion members worldwide, sees homosexuality as a sin and has recently stepped up efforts to keep gays out of the priesthood.
Rome also disagrees with Canterbury about making women priests, which the Anglican church has been doing since 1994.
TENSIONS AMONG ANGLICANS.
The two issues have sparked tensions within the Anglican Church itself, with Africa still barring women from the priesthood. The ordination of gays is an even more controversial step for the African synod and some have said it could bring the Anglican church to a schism.
In his speech, the pope noted: "We believe that these questions are of vital importance for the preaching of the Gospel in its entirety and that the debate underway within your church will influence the future of our relations".
Williams, who was believed to be the first head of the Church of England to visit a pope in the Vatican, stressed the importance of a "frank and honest dialogue".
"I have come here to celebrate the growing friendship between Anglicans and Catholics, but also to hear and understand the concerns that you may share with me".
In their joint declaration, Benedict and the archbishop of Canterbury voiced their commitment to cooperation in the interests of peace in the Middle Eest and to help overcome terrorism. They also spoke about the need to promote respect for life and defend marriage.
