By Paulina Guzik
OSV News
VATICAN CITY — After an intense day of roundtable discussions, the “low-batteried” but “very pleased” cardinals wrapped the first historic extraordinary consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV in a spirit of fraternity, with a sense of knowing each other better and saying they “discovered” the pope, while he did “more listening than talking.” They left the consistory with a clear vision of the new pontiff for “a church that cares.”
Pope Leo intends to continue consistory discussions once a year, with the next consistory planned for the end of June and following ones scheduled once a year, lasting three to four days, Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, confirmed during the evening press conference.
The pope, according to Bruni, told cardinals Jan. 8 that the consistory is designed as a “continuity with what was requested during the cardinals’ meetings before the conclave and also after the conclave,” and that the synodal methodology used “was chosen to help them meet and get to know each other better.”
Salesian Cardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero of Rabat, Morocco, told journalists waiting for the cardinals in front of the Paul VI Audience Hall that, with the level of fraternity reached during merely 15 hours of the consistory discussions, “the College of Cardinals has been strengthened.”
He said he is “very pleased,” as the meeting “has allowed us to get to know each other a little better, to share, and because it will also continue.”
“I believe it has been a way of reaffirming that there is continuity — not so much with Pope Francis, but with the Gospel, with the Second Vatican Council, and with all the magisterium that has emerged as a consequence of this Second Vatican Council. So in that sense, I am very pleased with the results,” he said.
Cardinal Stephen Brislin of Johannesburg, present at the evening press conference in the Vatican Press Office, told journalists, “The importance of this consistory was not solely in the discussion that took place,” but in the possibility “to listen to each other and to get to know each other” as the prelates “haven’t known each other very well.”
He stressed that the meeting “has been an assistance” to Pope Leo “as successor of St. Peter” and that it proved that synodality is “a way of being church” — and a “disposition” of the Church.
The second day of the consistory reminded the cardinals of the Synod on Synodality, with three-minute interventions from participants in group discussions, sharing meals and thoughts — from “the treasure that the Gospel is for mission,” through necessity to approach people’s “broken lives with humility,” and to synodality as “a tool for growing relationships,” Bruni said.
Asked whether there were any tensions — especially upon scrapping liturgy and church governance from the list of issues to discuss, and leaving “Evangelii Gaudium” and synodality on the table — Cardinal Brislin said it was a “pleasant experience, friendly experience,” and that “the pope wants to be collegial” and learn from “the richness that comes from the experiences of people” coming from different parts of the world.
The themes of the June consistory are yet to be named, and were not specified when OSV News asked during the news conference whether liturgy or other pressing themes that have emerged would be addressed in the next consistory.
The list of cardinals who participated in the extraordinary consistory has not been released, only the number — 170. But the Vatican said the pope met 93-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen on Jan. 7, and on Jan. 8 the pontiff specifically thanked the senior cardinals for making the effort to come.
Cardinal Zen, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, had to get permission from the judicial authorities in Hong Kong to attend the consistory.
Passing the pope’s words to journalists, Bruni said the pope emphasized: “‘Your witness is truly precious,’ reaffirming his closeness to the cardinals around the world who were unable to come.”
“We are with you and we feel close to you,” he said, repeating the pope’s words.
Dominican Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco of Algiers, Algeria, speaking to journalists outside the Paul VI Hall, said that the consistory was “a wonderful time,” emphasizing that it was not only a time for the cardinals to know each other, but for them to discover the personality of Pope Leo.
“This pope is … a pope you want to love. He’s … deeply kind. He loves. He was there, present, simply. It was beautiful,” the cardinal told journalists.
He described the pontiff as consistent and straightforward in his simplicity.
Cardinal Vesco said he leaves the consistory with a notion that the cardinals “feel loved” by their boss and “want to love him” with a certain level of fraternity being a clear fruit of the gathering.
Above: Cardinals from around the world listened Jan. 8 as they attended the second day of an extraordinary consistory with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican. (Simone Risoluti / Vatican Media / OSV News)