Pope Leo to his cardinals: ‘I need your freedom, your frankness, and your loyalty’

“At last January’s consistory, I expressed a simple desire: that these meetings would help us increasingly learn ‘to work together in the service of the Church’ and to continue ‘a conversation that helps me in the service of the mission of the whole Church.’”

That is what Pope Leo said during the opening address of the consistory that began this morning in the Vatican.

“We, like the whole Church, learn by walking together. Communion is never a once-for-all achievement: it remains a daily conversion, taking shape in prayer and through concrete attitudes, relationships of trust, and a willingness to listen to one another.”

synodal style

The Pope pointed out that the synodal style of the Church “requires attention to the way decisions are made and responsibilities are exercised, in transparency, evaluation, and shared responsibility”.

He added that “synodality is not first of all a set of procedures; as I have often said, synodality is an attitude, an openness, a readiness to understand”.

He criticized those who say that synodality diminishes authority. “In reality, it helps us understand more deeply the meaning of authority itself, which exists to safeguard communion, foster the participation of all, and guide the common journey of the Church”, said the Pope.

All the themes the cardinals will address “converge in a single question: how can we help our Churches today proclaim the Gospel with greater fidelity, freedom, and credibility?”

‘Help me to listen’

“I rely 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 brothers. The ministry the Lord has entrusted to me cannot be lived alone. It needs your experience, your pastoral wisdom, your knowledge of the Churches and peoples entrusted to you’, Leo said to his cardinals.

And he continued: ‘Help me to listen to what is emerging in the Churches, to recognize the signs of hope that often grow in silence, but also not to ignore the struggles, misunderstandings, and resistances that can slow the journey. I need your freedom, your frankness, and your loyalty. Sincere counsel is always an act of communion.”

make discernment work

He then asked his cardinals to “support this style of ecclesial discernment”, even if it requires patience “and at times raises questions”. Leo XIV is “convinced that the Lord is teaching us a more evangelical way of living together the responsibility he has entrusted to us”.

The Pope said he is “well aware” that speaking in small groups at round tables “for many of us this is not the usual way of conducting a consistory. Yet this too is part of the path along which the Lord is leading us”.

He reminded them that there “will also remain space for individual interventions and, as always, each of you may freely send me personal observations or confidential reflections. But I ask you to enter this ecclesial exercise with trust. We too learn synodality by practizing it; we learn together to grow in communion.”