US EditionPope Leo XIV convenes cardinals and signals reforms ahead now that the Holy Year is over
Pope Leo XIV called 245 cardinals to support Vatican II reforms aiming to address church unity and governance issues after the Holy Year, emphasizing a rereading of key documents.
- On Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, Pope Leo XIV gathered the world's cardinals in Rome the day after the close of the 2025 Holy Year, convening a two-day consistory signaling reform-minded priorities.
- Rereading Vatican II, Pope Leo XIV urged a fresh reading of council documents over received interpretations and said he will devote weekly catechism lessons to key texts as original bishops and theologians have died.
- On the two-day agenda, officials listed Pope Francis's mission statement, the 2022 Vatican bureaucracy reform, synodality and liturgical questions, and divisions over the old Latin Mass.
- Leo turns to the College of Cardinals for support as he advances his reform agenda, responding to complaints about Francis's style and engaging 245 cardinals in governing the 1.4-billion-member universal Catholic Church.
- To address internal tensions, Leo aims to pacify conservative and traditionalist critics over Francis's old Latin Mass restrictions while moving beyond his Holy Year obligations.
38 Articles
38 Articles
Pope convenes cardinals, asks their priorities for 2 years, with Latin Mass off agenda
Pope Leo XIV has asked cardinals to advise him on key priorities governing the Catholic Church for the next two years. He made the request at the start of a two-day meeting.
The convening of a consistory to gather the cardinals in Rome marks the beginning of a stage focused on fully implementing the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and reviewing key church documents
National Catholic Register
Pope Leo XIV Emphasizes Relevance of Second Vatican Council Before Meeting With Cardinals
Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV gives the first general audience of 2026 in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Jan. 7, 2026. | Leo reviewed some of the council’s principal fruits, including that it 'rediscovered the face of God as the Father who, in Christ, calls us to be his children.'
Associated Press News
Pope Leo XIV convenes cardinals and signals reforms ahead now that the Holy Year is over
Pope Leo XIV has opened a new phase of his pontificate by gathering the world’s cardinals in Rome. He emphasizes the modernizing teachings of the Second Vatican Council as the church's “guiding star.”
This is what the Pontiff said in the first general audience of the New Year a few hours from the beginning of the extraordinary consistory that he summoned to confront the cardinals of the world on future reforms for the Church
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