Leo, who is himself a canon lawyer, may have ideas of reforms for the church's legal system, and may want to put in place someone of his own choosing who can execute that vision.

The visit to the Vatican is also symbolic of the effort to build closer ties between the Catholic Church and the Church of England.

A high-ranking priest in the Archdiocese of Toledo arrested early Monday on charges of drug possession had previously been denounced in the Vatican for the defamation of a victim of sexual abuse, but...