What’s a consistory – and what makes this one 'extraordinary'?
Cardinals from around the world will gather in Rome this week for a meeting with Pope Leo.
Pope Leo XIV will hold the first consistory of his pontificate on Jan. 7-8, in what is expected to be the first major programmatic event of his pontificate.
The extraordinary consistory follows a papacy in which Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, mostly refrained from holding large meetings with cardinals, something that many reportedly complained about during the pre-conclave meetings last year.
What is a consistory? What makes this one extraordinary? How will the meeting be conducted, and what topics will be discussed?
The Pillar explains.
What is a consistory?
Canon 353§1 of the Code of Canon Law states, “The cardinals especially assist the supreme pastor of the Church through collegial action in consistories in which they are gathered by order of the Roman Pontiff who presides. Consistories are either ordinary or extraordinary.”
Ordinary consistories are convened for consultation on “certain grave matters which occur rather frequently or to carry out certain very solemn acts.” These consistories are generally convened to vote on canonizations or for the creation of new cardinals.
Any cardinal can take part in an ordinary consistory, but only those present in Rome are expected to participate.
Ordinary consistories can be public, and the pope may even allow for the attendance of bishops, priests, and laypeople—for example, the families of newly created cardinals when a consistory is held for their creation.
Extraordinary consistories, in contrast, are held privately “when particular needs of the Church or the treatment of more grave affairs suggests it.” All cardinals are expected to participate in extraordinary consistories, including those over the age of 80, who are not eligible to vote in a conclave.
This week’s consistory will be an extraordinary consistory, so proceedings will not be public.
The Code of Canon Law doesn’t suggest any type of regularity to ordinary or extraordinary consistories. Saint John Paul II held six extraordinary consistories in his 26-year pontificate; Benedict XVI didn’t hold any, preferring to have informal meetings with cardinals before ordinary consistories; and Francis held only two in his 12-year pontificate.
Why did the pope call for this consistory?
During the pre-conclave meetings, there were reportedly many complaints that the cardinals had not been regularly consulted by Pope Francis on ecclesial affairs – and that many of them did not even know each other.
Pope Leo referred to the issue in an address to cardinals after his election in May, saying that many cardinals had requested “dialogue…to hear advice, suggestions, proposals and specific issues.”
Meetings with the full college of cardinals were rare during Francis’ pontificate.
Francis’ first ordinary consistory preceded the Synod of the Family in 2014. There, Cardinal Walter Kasper gave a lengthy address in which he suggested that divorced and remarried couples could receive the Eucharist.
The speech caused an uproar among many cardinals, with Cardinal Gerhard Müller, then-prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, publicly stating that “The dogma of the Church is not just any theory made by some theologians, but it is the doctrine of the Church, nothing less than the word of Jesus Christ, which is very clear.”
After that, Pope Francis preferred to hold meetings with the “C-9” – a group of nine personally selected cardinals who served as official advisors – or to meet cardinals individually or in small groups instead of meeting with the full college.
Francis’ only other meeting with the full college of cardinals was in 2022 to discuss Praedicate evangelium, the apostolic constitution reforming the Roman curia. Even then, the Vatican press office did not refer to the meeting as a “consistory,” and many cardinals complained that they were only convened after the document had already been published, and that they were not previously consulted on it.
This week’s consistory is expected to serve as Pope Leo XIV’s first programmatic meeting, coming just one day after the conclusion of the Jubilee year.
According to a letter sent out by the pope to the college of cardinals and published in several media outlets, Pope Leo XIV asked the bishops to re-read Evangelii gaudium, the first apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis’ pontificate, and Praedicate evangelium. He also said synodality and liturgy would be two topics to be discussed.
While the letter mentions the liturgy, it does not mention the Traditional Latin Mass, which means the discussion on the liturgy will most likely be broader than just topics related to the TLM.
How will the consistory be conducted?
A Vatican press office statement said that the consistory will include “moments of communion and fraternity, as well as times dedicated to reflection, sharing and prayer.”
“These moments will be oriented towards fostering common discernment and offering support and advice to the Holy Father in the exercise of his high and demanding responsibility in the governance of the universal Church,” it adds.
Media reports indicate that the consistory will start at 3 p.m. in the afternoon on Jan. 7, with meetings in small working groups instead of a plenary session, which is the same format used in the 2022 meeting on the reform of the Roman curia. The session will conclude at 6:45 p.m., after which the pope will address the full college of cardinals.
The second day of the consistory will begin with Mass at Saint Peter’s Basilica, after which the second session will commence. The working groups are expected to present reports on their discussions and, at noon, cardinals may make open interventions until lunch.
After having lunch with the pope, the third and final session will begin at 3:15 p.m., expected to finish at 6:45 p.m. with a papal address and the prayer of the Te Deum.
Thank you, Edgar. This is very informative!
Praying that they allow the Holy Spirit to guide them