- Pâulina Guzik, Vatican City, OSV News
The two days of the first extraordinary Consistory convoked by Leo XIV, on January 7 and 8, gave the cardinals a clear vision of the new Pontiff for a Church that cares for others.
The Pope intends to continue the discussions with the cardinals once a year. The next consistory is scheduled for the end of June and the following ones are planned once a year, lasting 3-4 days, confirmed Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, during the evening press conference.
The Pope, according to Bruni, told the cardinals on Jan. 8 that the consistory is designed as a “continuity with what was requested during the meetings of the cardinals before the conclave and also after the conclave.” And that the synodal methodology used “was chosen to help them meet and get to know each other better.”.
1. The College of Cardinals has been strengthened.
Salesian Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, from Rabat (Morocco), told journalists waiting for the cardinals in front of the Paul VI Hall that, with the level of fraternity reached during the 15 hours of consistory debates, “the College of Cardinals has been strengthened”.
He said he was “very happy” because the meeting “has allowed us to get to know each other a little better, to share and also because it will continue”.
I think it has been a way of reaffirming that there is continuity, not so much with Pope Francis, but with the Gospel, with the Second Vatican Council and with all the magisterium that has emerged as a result of it. In that sense, I am very satisfied with the results, he said.
2. Get to know each other better, and help Pope Leo
Cardinal Stephen Brislin of Johannesburg, present at the afternoon press conference at the Vatican Press Office, told reporters, “The importance of this consistory was not only in the discussion that took place,” but in the possibility “to listen to each other and get to know each other,” since the prelates “did not know each other very well.”.
He stressed that the meeting “has been a help” to Pope Leo “as successor of St. Peter” and that it has shown that synodality is “a way of being Church” - and a “disposition” of the Church.
3. Synodality, striving to achieve harmony
The second day of the consistory reminded the cardinals of the Synod on synodality, with three-minute interventions by the participants in group discussions, sharing meals and reflections. From “the treasure that the Gospel is for mission,” to the need to approach the “broken lives of people with humility,” to synodality as “a tool for growing relationships,” Bruni said.
Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio, Archbishop of Bogota, Colombia, also present during the press conference, added that “sometimes there are criticisms or different positions, but we try to reach harmony, which does not mean uniformity, but to return to the roots”, which he referred to as the Second Vatican Council.
4. “The Pope wants to be a schoolboy”.”
When asked if there were tensions, especially in removing liturgy and Church governance from the list of topics to be discussed, and leaving ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ and synodality on the table, South African Cardinal Brislin said it was a “pleasant experience, a friendly experience.” “The Pope wants to be collegial” and learn from “the richness that comes from people's experiences” coming from different parts of the world.
The topics for the June consistory have not yet been defined and were not specified when OSV News asked during the press conference if the liturgy or other pressing issues that have arisen will be addressed at the next consistory.
Cardinals who left the Paul VI Hall confirmed to OSV News that during the consistory on January 7-8 there was no time to discuss the liturgy.
5. ‘We are with you and we feel close to you’.’
The list of cardinals who participated in the extraordinary consistory has not been released, only the number: 170. But the Vatican said the Pope met with Cardinal Joseph Zen, 93, on Jan. 7. And on Jan. 8, the Pontiff specifically thanked the senior cardinals for making the effort to attend.
Cardinal Zen, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, had to obtain permission from the Hong Kong judicial authorities to attend the consistory.
Passing on the Pope's words to journalists, Bruni said the Pope emphasized, “’Your witness is truly precious,’ reaffirming his closeness to the cardinals from around the world who could not come.”.
6. The Pope listened and took notes
“We are with you and we feel close to you,” he said, repeating the Pope's words, as some cardinals, such as Cardinal Baltazar Porras of Venezuela, whose diplomatic passport was confiscated by the regime, were unable to come.
Cardinal Paul David of Kalookan, Philippines, present at the press conference, said, “It was really refreshing to see that the Holy Father was more listening than talking” during the consistory and added that while no concrete decisions have been made, “he was taking notes very, very seriously, so he must be up to something.”.
7. A moment to discover the personality of Leo XIV.
Dominican Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco of Algiers (Algeria), speaking to journalists outside the Paul VI Hall, said the consistory was “a wonderful moment,” emphasizing that it was not only an occasion for the cardinals to get to know each other, but also to discover the personality of Pope Leo.
“This pope is... a pope one wants to love. He is... deeply caring. He loves. He was there, present, with simplicity. It was beautiful,” the cardinal, who could see the Pope coming to his country in the footsteps of St. Augustine, told the press.
8. A pope who wants to love, and the cardinals want to love him.
He described the pontiff as “coherent” and “direct” in his “simplicity.” He said he leaves the consistory with the feeling that the cardinals “feel loved” by their boss and “want to love him.” A clear fruit of the meeting is the level of fraternity.
“He completely nailed it from the get-go,” said Cardinal Vesco, who spent the longest time in conversation with journalists, including OSV News.
9. Missionary Church, Church that cares
Emphasizing the need for teamwork in the Church, the Pope told the cardinals in his impromptu Jan. 7 address, “I feel the need to be able to count on you: you are the ones who called this servant to this mission!” adding in his Speech introduces that the consistory “will point the way forward”.
Cardinal Vesco said that, even in such a brief meeting, it is clear that Pope Leo “wants a Church [...] that is both a missionary Church that proclaims the Gospel, but also a Church that cares,” and “that is precisely what is reflected in this form of communion and fraternity.”.
“First of all, instead of merely talking about things, he does them. And that seems to me to be very solid,” Cardinal Vesco said, stressing that “we can clearly feel that this reserve of trust” that the Pope places in the College of Cardinals “is a value, a value that will stand the test of time.”.
10. Emphasis is more on the relationship, as a leader.
“The emphasis is more on relationship than content,” Father Jordi Pujol, associate professor at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, told OSV News. While a day and a half is too short a time to deal in depth with any topic, let alone the four planned at the start of the meeting, Father Pujol emphasized that the Pope “wanted to show that he begins his pontificate as a good leader, and a good leader is to get the cardinals to know each other.”.
11. Don't expect everything from me, the team will push things forward.
A good leader, Father Pujol added, is one who says: “Don't expect everything from me; it is the team that will drive things forward. This shows that he is not personalistic and defines his style of listening first,” said the professor of ethics and media law at the Church's School of Communication.
Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, echoed this sentiment in his brief comments to journalists, including OSV News, saying that the Pope “was also very eager to exchange a few words, to connect with others in a very simple and informal way, and that was very nice.”.
Joking about the Italian character of the Vatican consistory, he added: “The lunch was excellent. Unfortunately, we missed the siesta.”.
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Paulina Guzik is international editor of OSV News. Follow her on X @Guzik_Paulina.
This information was originally published in OSV News, and can be found at here.
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