before the cardinals, Leo XIV does not intend to govern alone

Leo XIV does not intend to govern alone but collect experiences from five continents. This is the meaning of the extraordinary consistory, having brought together 170 cardinals, which he convened last week. And the American Pope immediately announced a second consistory for June. His observation is a Church divided and faced with very diverse challenges.

Francis, while launching the synodal path, had divided himself through solitary decisions. Leo XIV pleads: I need the loyal collaboration of all of you.

This consistory is “a moment of reflection and sharing aimed at supporting and advising the Pope in his heavy responsibility (…) I came to listen. We are called to know ourselves,” he insisted. Because the Church is “a very heterogeneous group, enriched by multiple origins, cultures, ecclesial and social endeavors, training paths, pastoral experiences and characters”.

Self-referentiality remains a danger pointed out by Leo XIV as by Francis: “We want to be a Church which does not only look at itself, but which looks further, towards others”. No announcements, reframes, final exhortations. But work in small groups as during the meetings on synodality convened in 2023-2024 by Francis.

In majority votes out of four proposed themes – liturgy, governance of the Church, synodality, mission – two were retained due to the limited time: synodality, the audacious project of Francis which is thus fully confirmed and the mission, “path that God asks of the Church of the third millennium”.

Leo XIV called for rereading the exhortation of the Argentine pope, Evangelii gaudium, “the fire” of the Gospel, which should enlighten humanity in the “darkness” of the 21st century. And to rely on the Constitution of Vatican II, Lumen gentium. The Council is therefore in no way to be contested but to be fully applied.

Throughout the interventions, we saw Léon, concentrated, taking lots of notes. New style, new working method.