Pope Leo XIV surprised the College of Cardinals in his opening address to the second extraordinary consistory of his papacy on the morning of June 26 when he told them, “I wish to ask you for your help.”
Saying that “the ministry which the Lord has entrusted to me cannot be carried out alone,” he added: “It requires your experience, your pastoral wisdom and your knowledge of the churches and of the peoples entrusted to you.”
“I am counting on you to help me discern what the Spirit is saying to the church today. I need your support: strong, explicit and public. I need to feel sustained by you, as by brothers,” he said.
He asked them “to accompany me not only during these days of work but also in the daily service to the communion of the universal church. Help me to listen to what is emerging in the churches, to recognize the signs of hope that often grow in silence, but also to not ignore the struggles, misunderstandings and resistance that can slow down our journey.”
“I need your freedom, your frankness, and your loyalty,” he told them. “Sincere advice is always an act of communion.”
He made this strong appeal at the opening session of the consistory of the College of Cardinals, which currently has 241 members, of whom 178 from all corners of the globe were present today.
In pre-conclave meetings last May before Leo’s election, the cardinals requested that the new pope involve them more in the governance of the universal church. Leo XIV responded to their plea by convening two extraordinary consistories, or plenary assemblies of cardinals, this year: the first Jan. 7-8 and the second this weekend, June 26-27; he has promised to hold one each year going forward.
The pope began his introductory talk today by thanking the cardinals for their presence, which, he said, demonstrates their “concern for the whole church that we all share.”
He said he hoped these meetings would help continue “a dialogue that assists me in serving the mission of the whole church.” He described this as “one of the most important responsibilities entrusted to the College of Cardinals.”
He told them “we are called to be builders of Christ’s communion, a communion that takes shape in a synodal church in which everyone cooperates in the same mission, each according to their own charism and ministry.” Referencing what he said to the Roman Curia last December, Leo reminded them that “communion is built not so much through words and documents as through concrete gestures and attitudes that ought to appear in our daily lives, including in our work.” He added, “We are not guardians of particular interests, but disciples and witnesses of the Kingdom of God, called in Christ to be leaven of universal fraternity.”
He asked the cardinals to focus on four “deeply interconnected” themes: “our view of the world, peace, the common good and synodality.”
In discussing the first theme, he said, “We are invited to contemplate the world in which the church is called to proclaim the Gospel,” but “before asking ourselves what to do, we must pause to consider reality, looking at it through the eyes of faith and allowing ourselves to be challenged by listening to our brothers and sisters.” He reminded them that “today, the Lord continues to go before us in history, and the church is called first and foremost to recognize his presence.”
He said the second theme requires us to “reflect together on the culture of power and the civilization of love,” which is the subject of Chapter 5 of his encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas.” Noting that many cardinals “come from lands marked by war, violence and social or religious polarization,” Leo said, “none of us are immune to the many forms of conflict, oppression and division that afflict our societies today.” He said the encyclical “offers some valuable insights for understanding our times,” and told them, “I am particularly keen to hear how these pages resonate within your particular churches, what questions they raise, what perspectives they open up and what steps they suggest.”
Referring to the third theme, Pope Leo asked the cardinals to examine “the contribution that the church can make to building up the common good.” While noting that “we live in an age in which the temptation toward fragmentation is growing and particular interests all too easily prevail,” he said that “the church’s social teaching reminds us that the common good does not arise spontaneously, but requires shared responsibility.” Indeed, for the church this takes on “a synodal style” and “requires attention to the way in which decisions are made and responsibilities exercised, through transparency, evaluation and shared responsibility.”
The fourth theme related to the implementation of the Synod on Synodality. He asked the cardinals to consider the input from the discussions on the previous three topics: “In the face of the wounds of the world, the building up of the common good, and the mission of the church, synodality points to a way forward: listening, discerning and taking responsibility together for the choices that the Lord entrusts to us.”
Well aware that some cardinals still have serious reservations about synodality and its implementation, Pope Leo explained that synodality “is not, first and foremost, a set of procedures.” Rather, it is “an attitude, an openness, a willingness to understand.”
“At times,” he said, “it has been interpreted as a diminishment of authority,” whereas “in reality, it helps us to understand more deeply the meaning of authority itself, which exists to safeguard communion, to foster the participation of all, and to guide the church’s common journey.”
Significantly, the pope reminded the cardinals, “We are not here, first and foremost, to reflect on the internal life of the church.” His remark seemed to refer to the fact that some of them had wanted the consistory to focus on issues such as liturgy.
He explained that “all the themes we will address—our view of the world, peace, the common good and synodality—converge on a single question: How can we help our churches today to proclaim the Gospel with greater fidelity, freedom and credibility?”
He reminded them that the church is missionary by nature. “Mission is not merely one of the church’s many tasks. It is her very reason for existing and thus, it also becomes the criterion that guides our discernment.” He explained that “when we learn to listen to one another, to share responsibilities and to recognize the action of the Spirit in the various churches, we are not merely improving the way we work; we are becoming a church that is better able to engage with the men and women of our time and to bear witness to them of the joy of the Gospel.”
He called on all the cardinals “to uphold, each within your own church and in your own ministry, this style of ecclesial discernment.” But recognizing that not all of them are on board with this synodal style, Leo added:
I know that it requires patience and sometimes raises questions. Nevertheless, I am convinced that the Lord is teaching us a more evangelical way of living out together the responsibility he has entrusted to us. The credibility of our witness and the fruitfulness of our mission depend on this.
He remarked: “I am well aware that, for many of us, this is not the usual way of conducting a consistory. Yet this, too, is part of the journey along which the Lord is leading us…. I ask you to enter into this ecclesial exercise with trust. We, too, learn synodality by practicing it; we learn together to grow in communion.”
The cardinals then divided into 18 groups, as members did at the Synod on Synodality: eight of the groups consisted of cardinals who are currently leading dioceses or have done so; the other 10 groups were made up of cardinals from the Roman Curia and those over the age of 80.
‘One who asks, not commands’
Pope Leo began the consistory by presiding at an early morning Mass concelebrated with the cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica. “It is significant that our consistory takes place on the eve of the solemnity of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul,” he said in his homily. “So let us pause to commemorate these two pillars of the Roman Catholic Church, the two missionary martyrs whose preaching became one with their lives, to the point of becoming part of Sacred Scripture.”
At the Eucharist, he said, “we ask for the gift of peace in unity,” but “even as we invite all peoples to the faith in which we are truly free, international tensions and conflicts seriously wound the human family.” At the same time, he said, there are “initiatives and experiences” in the church and the world “that call for respect for human dignity, justice, the rule of law and simply for what is human,” and “this is a source of hope, for it attests to the beauty of the work of God, who created us in his image and likeness as a sign of his glory in the world.”
But, he said, “Whenever this sign is wounded, we are all wounded. Whenever it is corrupted, we all suffer. Whenever it is destroyed, we all feel torn apart. Therefore, war is never worthy of humanity, and it is never blessed by God, because, even if we are equipped with high-tech weapons, the Creator has endowed us with intelligence and free will to resolve conflicts as human beings and not as beasts.”
“That the unity of the human family takes precedence over individual peoples and states is not merely a biological fact,” the pope said. “It is an ethical principle. Peace is a duty of justice because we are one human family, a magnifica humanitas that finds its head and redeemer in Christ.”
He also urged the cardinals to find “harmony through obedience”—that is, “through a listening that recognizes the gift of the Word made flesh for us. Through such listening, the Holy Spirit guides us, pointing out pastoral challenges and opportunities, purifying our intentions and correcting whatever strays from our shared path.”
He concluded his homily by telling the cardinals that “our working together in a collegial way embodies the synodality in which all the baptized participate in the unity of the people of God.” He reminded them that “synodality and collegiality are, in fact, forms of Christian fraternity, which binds us together as the baptized and as bishops.”
“Therefore,” he said, “in helping me in the exercise of the Petrine ministry, you will find in me one who asks, not commands. Moreover, the authority of primacy belongs to the one who listens and only then leads, to the one who learns and only then teaches, always following the one and only Teacher.”
After Mass, the cardinals went to the synod hall to discuss the four topics on which the pope had asked them to give him their feedback.
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