Several working sessions and four themes ranging from war to synodality are planned for the next consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV. Source: EWTN News.
From reflection on the international situation to a possible “updating” of the doctrine of just war, to a discussion of the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas to the steps of the synodal process, the cardinals are called upon for broad discussions in multiple sessions.
The themes were outlined by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, in a letter sent to all cardinals on Wednesday. The extraordinary consistory, the second convoked by Pope Leo, will be held June 26–27.
The letter re-emphasises that the consistory “is intended, above all, to be a space for mutual listening, discernment, and shared exploration of certain issues relevant to the life and mission of the Church in the present time”.
The Pope “wishes to gather the experience and advice of the members of the College of Cardinals and, at the same time, to be able to count on the active help and support of each in the various places and responsibilities in which they serve the Church”.
Cardinal Re described the first session as “a shared meditation starting from the international situation.” He emphasised that “in a climate of prayer, we will be invited to let emerge, before the Lord, what we are experiencing in different parts of the world and in the local Churches”.
The encyclical Magnifica Humanitas will be the focus of the second and third working sessions. In particular, in the second session, the cardinals will be called to reflect on Chapter 5 of the encyclical and to discuss the themes of peace as a “condition for the universal common good” (No. 182 of Magnifica Humanitas).
A particular focus will be on the concept of just war, and on “what concrete ways can help Christian peoples and communities preserve and build peace.”
The third session will ask the cardinals to deepen the encyclicalʼs invitation to read the transformations of our time in the light of the Gospel, as called for by Magnifica Humanitas.
A fourth session will be divided into two parts: an update on the Synodʼs implementation process and then a period of “free dialogue between the members of the college and the Holy Father, with three-minute interventions”.
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June consistory of cardinals will address synod, war, artificial intelligence (By Andrea Gagliarducci, EWTN News)
