/ Vatican Media The extraordinary consistory of cardinals meets in the Vatican’s Synod Hall on August 29, 2022.
29 August 2022, 11:22 am, Vatican City (CNA).
The Catholic cardinals have been summoned to Rome for an extraordinary consistory. It is the first of its sort in seven years and the second during Pope Francis’ papacy.
197 cardinals responded to the call. But what are they talking Monday and Tuesday behind closed doors?
So far, information has been scarce. Observers of the Vatican are aware that the purpose of the meetings is to discuss the new Roman Curia constitution, Praedicate evangelium. For the first round of arguments, the cardinals are divided into language groups. Then, similar to recent synods, they reconvene and discuss their conclusions in a plenary session.
We also know that the deliberations constitute the third consistory in a matter of days: the first, on August 27, was devoted to the appointment of twenty new cardinals. Second, to authorize the canonization of two saints: Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, an Italian bishop and founder of the Missionaries of St. Charles, and Artemide Zatti, an Italian immigrant to Argentina who was a nurse and Salesian Brother.
While this context is significant, as is the historical backdrop of the papal visit to L’Aquila on Sunday, communication from the Holy See today was sparse, as noted by one vaticanist among others: “This is the entirety of the information we have from the Vatican regarding the meeting between Pope Francis and the world’s Catholic cardinals today. The conference of the cardinals is taking place today at the Vatican in the presence of Pope Francis.
At least one cardinal provided a glimpse of the atmosphere of today’s assembly. Cardinal Enrico Feroci, pastor of Santa Maria del Divino Amore in Castel di Leva, near Rome, told Vatican News that the first encounter with the Pope took place in a most brotherly manner.
Francis launched the conference by encouraging everyone present to contribute to these two days of meditation on Praedicate evangelium following the opening prayer.
According to the Vatican’s own reporting, Cardinal Feroci also stated that two reflections have been presented thus far: one on Communion, the witness of mutual love among Christians, and one on the challenges of today’s society to expose itself to the message of the Gospel.
In a following interview with Vatican News, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, again emphasized the significant participation of the cardinals in the conference, where an open and intense discourse was maintained.
Tomorrow, these “open and heated” deliberations will take place in a plenary session before to the conclusion of this extraordinary consistory: On the afternoon of August 30, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass with the full College of Cardinals at St. Peter’s Basilica.