Pope: the consistory as a conversation to serve ‘the mission of the entire Church’
The 170 cardinals chose synodality and evangelisation as the main themes. There was no written document at the end, but listening and sharing are “the way” to follow. For Leo XIV, the Church can “offer a model of collegiality”. The relationship with local Churches must be boosted since it is harder to consult them. The College is called to be a “community of faith” rather than “a mere group of experts.”
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – The first Extraordinary Consistory convened by the Bishop of Rome, was held yesterday and today in the Vatican.
The spirit that accompanied the meeting reflected what Pope Leo said on 8 May 2025, when the cardinals, in the secrecy of the Sistine Chapel, picked Card Robert Francis Prevost as the 267th pontiff.
"I feel the need to count on you,” he said then. Now “we may work together in serving the Church,” he said yesterday. “I am here to listen,” he added.
Synod, shared responsibility, and listening are the main points highlighted in the meeting the pope and 170 cardinals (out of 245) held in Rome after the Epiphany.
Their work was not about drafting a "text" at the end of the meeting, but rather, about “point[ing] the way” for a future path, more like a “conversation that will help me in serving the mission of the entire Church,” the pope said yesterday.
“This will be our way of proceeding: being attentive to the heart, mind and spirit of each; listening to one other; expressing only the main point and in a succinct manner, so that all can speak.” These are the initial considerations.
Yesterday afternoon, the cardinals voted on "Synod and Synodality" and "Evangelization and mission in the Church in light of Evangelii Gaudium" as the central themes of the meeting. The topics of liturgy and the reform of the Roman Curia were excluded. But one "does not exclude the other," the Vatican Press Office reported.
Leo welcomed the group by reading the first paragraph of the Constitution Lumen Gentium, noting that, “While centuries apart, we can say that the Holy Spirit inspired the same vision in the prophet (Isaiah) and in the Council Fathers, namely the vision of the light of the Lord [. . .] The guidance of this light enables all peoples to walk in the midst of the darkness of the world.
After underlining the "conciliar perspective" present in the pontificates of Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis, Leo added, “unity attracts, division scatters. It seems to me that physics also confirms this, both on the microscopic and macroscopic levels.”
Hence, “to be a truly missionary Church, one that is capable of witnessing to the attractive power of Christ’s love, we must first of all put into practice his commandment, the only one he gave us after washing his disciples’ feet: ‘Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.’”
The pontiff and the College of Cardinals are called to undertake a “collegial journey,” Leo stressed, even though “We are a very diverse group, enriched by a wide range of backgrounds, cultures, ecclesial and social traditions, formative and academic paths, pastoral experiences, not to mention personal characteristics and traits.”
In fact, “We are called first to get to know one another and to dialogue, so that we may work together in serving the Church. I hope that we can grow in communion and thus offer a model of collegiality.”
Yesterday afternoon's work followed the synodal method. The cardinals were divided into 20 groups based on language, each speaking for three minutes. The cardinals were asked to maintain confidentiality regarding the discussions.
The first day of the consistory began in the Synod Hall with a presentation, continuing in the Paul VI Hall with the work divided by groups.
Leo XIV came to hear the final reports, placing particular focus on the nine groups of cardinals hailing from local Churches, “since it is naturally easier for me to seek counsel from those who work in the Curia and live in Rome,” he explained.
This morning the discussion picked up again, preceded by the Mass at the Altar of the Chair of St Peter. In his homily, Leo XIV described the assembly as “a moment of grace wherein our unity in the service of the Church finds its expression,” noting the link between the word Consistory and the verb consistere, i.e. “to stand still”.
“[A]ll of us have “paused” in order to be here. We have set aside our activities for a time, and even cancelled important commitments, so as to discern together what the Lord is asking of us for the good of his people,” he said.
This is a “significant” deed in the “frenetic society” in which we live. “We gather not to promote personal or group ‘agendas,’ but to entrust our plans and inspirations to a discernment that transcends us”.
The pontiff went on to say that, “Our College, while rich in many skills and remarkable gifts, is not called primarily to be a mere group of experts, but a community of faith. Only when the gifts that each person brings are offered to the Lord and returned by him, will they bear the greatest fruit according to his providence.”
Thus, ‘pausing’ is an “act of love” to be experienced “aware that it is by grace that we are here. Moreover, we bring nothing that we have not first received”.
Finally, “We may not always find immediate solutions to the problems we face, yet in every place and circumstance, we will be able to help one another” as “providence never fails to provide wherever his children ask for help.”
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20/05/2019 19:39
