US EditionThe Secular Press Can’t Understand Pope Leo
About 170 cardinals voted to emphasize synodality and evangelization as priorities for guiding the Church's mission in Pope Leo XIV's first consistory.
- On Jan. 7, 2026, Pope Leo XIV welcomed about 170 cardinals to a two-day consistory at the Vatican, where a clear majority voted to prioritise the Synod on Synodality and mission in Evangelii Gaudium.
- Facing a divided church, Pope Leo XIV called a consistory soon into his papacy to consult cardinals, asking them to select two topics from four including Evangelii Gaudium and the Synod on Synodality.
- Organizers divided the cardinals into 21 language-based groups with a 10-minute speaking limit, nine secretaries presented summaries within three minutes, and only first nine groups of electors, nuncios, and curia spoke directly to the pontiff.
- After the votes, Pope Leo XIV thanked the cardinals for the choice 'by a large majority' and urged ongoing dialogue, while Vatican officials said liturgy and curial reform will integrate into broader discussions.
- By echoing earlier synodality, the consistory builds on the Synod on Synodality launched by Pope Francis to foster dialogue, with Reuters noting a push for reforms and Catholic academic Massimo Faggioli calling Leo cautious but aligned.
11 Articles
11 Articles
The secular press can’t understand Pope Leo
Last May, the cardinals of the Catholic Church gathered before the world’s eyes to elect a new pope. Now, just eight months later, 170 of them are back in Rome for a consistory — a formal meeting of the church’s top brass. Alarmingly, Reuters is reporting that Pope Leo XIV is using the occasion to signal “a desire to press ahead with the reforms of the late Pope Francis, who battled with conservative cardinals while trying to make Catholicism mo…
Pope Leo gathers cardinals in first consistory to chart church’s path together
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — In his first major act of governance, Pope Leo XIV welcomed about 170 cardinals this week at the Vatican for an extraordinary consistory, a gathering aimed at addressing the most pressing issues facing the church. While the meeting on Wednesday and Thursday (Jan. 7-8) takes place behind closed doors, the message Leo is sending is clear: He intends to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics not as a solitary decision-maker but…
Pope Leo XIV to cardinals: You are not experts promoting agendas, but a community of faith - The Dialog
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV gathered cardinals present for the extraordinary consistory this week for an early morning Mass Jan. 8 in St. Peter’s Basilica, telling them they’re together not to promote “agendas,” but to take part in a “discernment” that “comes from the Lord.” In the afternoon of Jan. 7, as the consistory started, the cardinals chose two themes to discuss during the gathering — the missionary nature of the church based on Pope Fra…
León XIV to cardinals: “We gather not to promote personal or group “agendas” - ZENIT
(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 01.08.2026).- On the morning of Thursday, January 8, Pope Leo XIV presided over the Eucharistic concelebration with the cardinals gathered in Rome for the consistory of January 7 and 8, 2025. The Mass took place at the altar of the chair, and it was the Holy Father himself who delivered the homily, which we offer below, translated into English: *** “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God” (1 Jn 4:7…
Pope Leo XIV this Thursday encouraged the unity of the cardinals from all over the world gathered in the Vatican for an extraordinary consistory and warned that they would not be called to “promote personal or group agendas”. “We have all stopped to be here, we have suspended our activities for a while, renounced even important commitments, [...] The entry Leo XIV calls for unity to the cardinals and “not to promote personal agendas” was first p…
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