{"id":226062,"date":"2026-01-07T21:41:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T21:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/226062\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T21:41:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T21:41:07","slug":"consistory-cardinals-choose-synodality-and-mission-as-themes-for-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/226062\/","title":{"rendered":"Consistory: Cardinals choose synodality and mission as themes for reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the end of the first day of the Extraordinary Consistory, the Director of the Holy See Press Office tells reporters that the roughly 170 Cardinals participating voted to reflect on the themes of synodality and mission, noting that Pope Leo XIV told the Cardinals that he needs \u201cto be able to count on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Salvatore Cernuzio<\/p>\n

By a \u201cclear majority,\u201d the roughly 170 cardinals gathered for the Extraordinary Consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV\u2014the first of his pontificate\u2014voted for \u201cSynod and synodality\u201d and \u201cEvangelization and mission in the Church in the light of Evangelii gaudium\u201d as the themes on which to reflect during these two days of work.<\/p>\n

Due to time constraints, they chose these two themes from the list of four topics, which also included the liturgy and the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium on the Roman Curia and its service to the local Churches.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne theme does not exclude another,\u201d explained the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, in an evening briefing with journalists. \u201cThe Pope received indications of an urgency, or the perceived need, for certain themes. A way will be found to address them within the others.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Pope<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Pope Leo XIV opens the Extraordinary Consistory of Cardinals and recalls that Christ draws us to follow Him, warning that division in the Church scatters the faithful.\n <\/p>\n

Synodal methodology <\/p>\n

The Cardinals are both reflecting on synodality and employing the Synod\u2019s methodology of dialogue and listening, with the Cardinals seated at round tables and divided into 20 language-based groups. Each intervention is around three minutes each.<\/p>\n

\u201cSynodality is the path God expects of the Church in the third millennium,\u201d the Pope told the Cardinals, adding at the end of the day: \u201cI feel the need to be able to count on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Group work <\/p>\n

The first part of the Consistory took place in the Synod Hall, presided over by Cardinal \u00c1ngel Fern\u00e1ndez Artime, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life.<\/p>\n

The Cardinals sang the Veni Creator, read a passage from Chapter 6 of the Gospel of Mark, and listened to a brief greeting from Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, and a meditation by Dominican Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe.<\/p>\n

They then moved to the Paul VI Hall for the group work, at the end of which Pope Leo listened to the final reports.<\/p>\n

Only the secretaries of the first nine groups\u2014composed of Cardinals from the local Churches\u2014presented the work carried out and the reasons that led to the choice of two of the four themes. The secretaries of the other 11 tables provided only the titles of the themes chosen.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, discussions and reflection will continue, preceded by Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter\u2019s, concelebrated by the Pope with the Cardinals.<\/p>\n

As the Pope said in his address, no final text is expected, since the goal is to learn and exercise a collegial and synodal style\u2014one of \u201cworking together\u201d and \u201ccreating something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope Leo XIV\u2019s concluding words <\/p>\n

\u201cThe journey is as important as the conclusion,\u201d Pope Leo XIV reiterated in his closing remarks in the Paul VI Hall, once again underscoring the importance of the \u201cexperience of collegiality\u201d in order to seek together to understand what the Holy Spirit wants for the Church today and tomorrow.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime is very short,\u201d but it is important, he said. \u201cI feel the need to be able to count on you. You have called this servant to this mission; it is important that we discern together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cardinal Radcliffe\u2019s meditation <\/p>\n

In his meditation, Cardinal Radcliffe began with a question: \u201cWe are gathered in this Consistory to offer our help to the Holy Father in the exercise of his ministry in service of the universal Church. But in what way can we do so?\u201d<\/p>\n

Love and peace, answered the Cardinal, paraphrasing the Gospel of John. \u201cIf Peter\u2019s boat were full of disciples who quarrel among themselves, we would be of no use to the Holy Father. If instead we live among ourselves in peace and love, even when differences emerge, God will truly be present, even when he seems absent.\u201d<\/p>\n

He spoke of times of \u201cterrible storms,\u201d marked by \u201cgrowing violence, from armed crime to war,\u201d by the rich\u2013poor divide that \u201cwidens more and more,\u201d by the progressive crumbling of the global order born after the Second World War, and by Artificial Intelligence, whose effects we do not know.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we are not already uneasy, we should be,\u201d he said. In the face of all this, we can feel \u201calone, worn down, exhausted,\u201d but \u201cwe must not be afraid,\u201d Cardinal Radcliffe reassured. \u201cJesus watches over us and will draw nearer to us than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same holds for the Church, also \u201cshaken\u201d by the \u201cstorms\u201d of \u201csexual abuse and ideological divisions,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Lord calls us to sail through these storms and to face them with truth and courage, without timidly waiting on the shore. If we do this in this Consistory, we will see him coming toward us. If, on the other hand, we remain hidden on the shore, we will not meet him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the end of the first day of the Extraordinary Consistory, the Director of the Holy See Press…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[89366,123712,42,43,14655,123752,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-226062","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-cardinals","9":"tag-consistory","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-pope-leo-xiv","13":"tag-press-office","14":"tag-top-news","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-topnews","17":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}