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 in close consultation with the church’s senior leadership.
“I am here to listen,” the pope said in his opening remarks before cardinals in the Synod Hall at the Vatican on Wednesday. “This day and a half together will point the way for our path ahead.”
It is the first consistory of Leo’s papacy and the first time the cardinals have convened since his election in May. Shortly after his inauguration, Leo expressed his desire to lead the church alongside his fellow cardinals. His predecessor, Pope Francis, only held one extraordinary consistory during his 12-year papacy, choosing to rely on a small council of cardinals known as the C9. His most adamant conservative critics would often accuse him of being too authoritarian.
Leo acknowledged that he inherited a deeply divided church that in many ways reflec …