Vatican News: Consistory: Focus on global situation, Magnifica Humanitas, Synod
In a letter to the cardinals who will take part in the meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the end of June, Cardinal Re outlines the themes of the four working sessions to be held in the Paul VI Hall and the Synod Hall.
By Alessandro Di Bussolo – Link to article
A reflection on the international situation and the life of local Churches, a discussion of key themes in the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, and an update on the implementation of the Synod will be at the heart of the Consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV for 26, 27 and 29 June.
The themes of the gathering were outlined by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, in a letter sent on 3 June to all participating cardinals. In the letter, the Cardinal explains that the Pope wishes the meeting, like the one held on 7–8 January this year, to serve as “a space of mutual listening, discernment and shared reflection on issues of particular importance for the life and mission of the Church today.”
Cardinal Re recalls that Pope Leo sees the Consistory as an opportunity both “to gather the experience and counsel of the members of the College of Cardinals” and to count on “the active assistance and support of each one in the various places and responsibilities in which they serve the Church.” For that reason, he writes, the discussions should take place in “a spirit of listening, freedom and parrhesia,” fostering a process of shared discernment.
The first session will focus on the international situation and the reality of local Churches. Cardinals will be invited to share the sufferings, tensions and challenges affecting the peoples and ecclesial communities entrusted to their care, as well as the signs of hope, fidelity to the Gospel and prospects for reconciliation that they believe should be brought to the attention of the College.
Magnifica humanitas
The second and third sessions will be dedicated to Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, published on 25 May.
The second session will examine Chapter Five, entitled “The Culture of Power and the Civilisation of Love.” Cardinal Re recalls that in paragraph 182 of the encyclical, the Pope writes that in a world marked by “polarisation, violence and growing conflict,” peace “is not one issue among others, but a condition for the universal common good and a test of the moral maturity of peoples.”
A world wounded by war
Cardinals from regions affected by war will be invited to share how conflict has directly and painfully shaped their pastoral experience, while the others will be asked to reflect on the resurgence of “languages, logics and practices” that undermine reconciliation and peaceful coexistence. The discussion will also address how the Church can reaffirm today “the overcoming of the theory of the ‘just war,’ too often invoked to justify any war,” as Pope Leo writes in paragraph 192 of the encyclical, and what practical paths might help peoples and Christian communities preserve and build peace.
The third session will take up the theme of “building in goodness,” a perspective that frames both the introduction and conclusion of Magnifica Humanitas. Participants will explore the encyclical’s call to interpret the transformations of the present age in the light of the Gospel and to direct humanity’s search for happiness and fulfilment toward integral human development.
Implementation of the Synod
The first part of the final session will provide cardinals with an update on the implementation of the Synod, particularly in light of the recent document Towards the Synodal Assemblies 2027–2028: Stages, Criteria and Instruments for Preparation. The second part will be devoted to open dialogue between the cardinals and the Pope, with interventions limited to three minutes each.
Cardinal Re also notes that the Consistory sessions on 26 and 27 June will take place in the Paul VI Hall and the Synod Hall. The gathering will conclude on 29 June in Saint Peter’s Basilica, where Pope Leo XIV will preside at the Mass for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, bless the pallia and impose them on the new metropolitan archbishops.
As previously announced, there will be no concelebrated Eucharistic celebration on 28 June.
The original announcement of a “synod on synodality” made many feel uneasy. Was it to be a talking shop, floundering in edifying abstractions? When Pope Francis simply took the final report of the synod and made it part of his own magisterium many felt he was avoiding giving any concrete guidance. https://www.synod.va/content/dam/synod/news/2024-10-26_final-document/ENG—Documento-finale.pdf
Now two years later, we find no mention of synodality in Magnifica Humanitas. From a pope who is also a canon lawyer we expect something very precise, and we are left wondering if he regards the flood of synodal rhetoric as an unmanageable legacy. Well another dense document is put before us: https://www.synod.va/content/dam/synod/news/2024-10-26_final-document/ENG—Documento-finale.pdf But is anyone responding to it?
“Now two years later, we find no mention of synodality in Magnifica Humanitas.”
Utterly mistaken Joe! Could you not even have completed a word search before typing this?
Right at the start of Magnifica Humanitas, in paragraph 10 – contrasting the ongoing construction of the AI tower of Babel with the rebuildng of Jerusalem – Leo makes quite clear that synodality is the process through which the latter happens:
“Rebuilding today means recognizing that, precisely from the plurality of voices and visions which, even though they sometimes remind us of the confusion caused by the diversity of spoken languages, a bright possibility emerges. Indeed, this is the possibility of building together, of transforming diversity into a resource and of making listening and dialogue the common ground upon which to cultivate justice and fraternity. Within this shared task, Christians discover their unique role of guiding actions toward God so that, in his light, pluralism does not dissipate into disorder, but instead, through the practice of synodality, it becomes the space in which humanity rediscovers its solid foundations and its final end.”
He reinforces this then at the end by quoting directly from the Final Report of the 16th synod:
“86. In conclusion, I would like to touch on a point that is particularly close to my heart. Social Doctrine is not merely a message addressed to society; it is also an examination of conscience for the Church — a home and school of communion that is always called to ensure that the principles outlined in this chapter are applied, especially within its own structures. In the ecclesial context, the common good takes the form of a synodal approach for mission at the service of the Kingdom. Indeed, the Church is the “communitarian and historical subject of synodality and mission”. This requires attention to the way decisions are taken and responsibilities are exercised. The _Final Document_ of the Synod identifies a culture of transparency, accountability and evaluation as key practices for missionary transformation.”
How else – other than synodally – could the principles of Catholic social teaching permeate the consciousness of those who alone can do the rebuilding – the people of God? It is precisely because decisive discourse in the Irish Church has been non-synodal – making it virtually a clericalist ‘closed shop’ – that until now Catholic Social Teaching has been a closed book here.
‘We find no mention of synodality in Magnifica Humanitas’ -@1. Not so, Joe – synodality is mentioned in nos 42 and 86, and the document is riddled with echoes of the synodal process with its emphasis on discernment and dialogue. The reference in no 86, under the heading of An Examen for the Church, is particularly telling. Leo says it touches on something ‘particularly close to my heart’ and goes on to make the point that Catholic Social Doctrine/Teaching is not just for the world, it is also meant to be lived out in the Church. It is in this context that he apologises for the Church’s record on slavery, but surprisingly fails to make the connection with the similar record of the Church on women (see n 57).
Apologies, I made a mess. Will close study of the encyclical clarify the thought on synodality and clear up my brain fog?
In ‘America’ Erin Brigham does a good job of explaining how synodality is integral to the project proposed by Magnifica Humanitas:
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith-and-reason/2026/05/28/where-synodality-shows-up-in-magnifica-humanitas/
Thank you Sean for the link to Erin Brigham’s article.
I note :”In a novel move, Leo initiates such an examination of conscience within the encyclical itself: He affirms synodality as the path to build the common good within the church as he laments the occasions in which the church has perpetuated inequality and has caused harm by abusing power (No. 89).”
Unfortunately this is not just a past reality, but very much a present one.
In truth it should read “the Church is still perpetuating inequality and causing harm by abusing power”.
Some women in Spain made precisely that point to Leo in the margins of the papal Mass today.
“The women who have come carrying purple symbols — umbrellas, scarves, t-shirts — are not only denouncing a situation of structural inequality. They are raising a fundamental question: To what extent does the Church today reflect the original vision of Jesus of Nazareth?…
The crucial question, then, is not whether the Church should change to adapt to the world. It is more profound: Is it willing to return to the radical nature of Jesus’ message? To embrace the consequences of an equality that is not only spiritual, but also concrete and visible?
The challenge is significant. It involves reviewing structures, questioning inertia, and, above all, listening to voices that have long been ignored. But it also presents an opportunity: to build a more credible Church, one that is closer to its people and more faithful to its origins ….
Perhaps that’s why the final question is as uncomfortable as it is necessary: What is more important, preserving certain forms of power or truly serving the world from the spirit of the Gospel?
The women who are raising their voices today do not seem willing to give up on that answer. And perhaps, in their persistence, they are pointing the way that many believers have long awaited.”
Link to complete article: Women at the Pope’s Mass advocate for a Church of equals
https://www.religiondigital.org/dios_en_la_frontera/iglesia-iguales-no-poderosos-reivindicacion_132_1456734.html
What a bonanza! The Oxford Handbook of Vatican II (ed. Paul Avis, 2018) can be read online (if one’s eyes can bear it) in its entirely: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL38815185M/Oxford_Handbook_of_Vatican_II
The magnificent Oxford Handbook of Vatican II (ed. Catherine Clifford and Massimo Faggioli, 2022) should become available in due course.
Maybe we need to go back to the lucid writings of Yves Congar and Hans Küng who brought the church into focus at the time of Vatican II and in a way that linked ecclesiology to the broader concerns of Vatican II (as Leo XIV is also doing).
The one moment when the church seemed effectively to link up with the concerns of the world was Vatican II, because the church was sharing its wisdom as a community, enacting collegiality and subsidiarity, and not talking down to the human race. Paul VI wrote in “the spirit of the Council” (a phrase he used more than 100 times) and so did Francis.
Is synodality a genuine kairos, a moment of great lucidity?
Remembering Mary McAleese’s Quo Vadis? (how canon law thwarted collegiality) and the many complaints about Vatican repression of the authority of episcopal conferences, I suspect that synodality is an effort to climb out of an ecclesiological slump. (Did John Paul II or Benedict XVI write a luminous ecclesiological document?)