Overview
- The two‑day consistory closed on June 27 with more than 170 cardinals taking part in four sessions that reviewed global crises, power and the 'civilization of love', the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, and how to implement the synod.
- León XIV asked cardinals for accompaniment, freedom, frankness and loyalty and requested a firm, explicit and public backing for his pontificate to help him discern the needs of local churches.
- Participants worked in roundtable groups using a three‑phase sinodal method and the Vatican asked for confidentiality to encourage candid dialogue rather than produce public juridical rulings.
- Notable interventions were consultative only, including Cardinal Víctor Manuel 'Tucho' Fernández’s call to move beyond the traditional concept of 'just war' and his critique of disproportionate military actions in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
- The pope closed with a strong appeal for peace, a special prayer for victims of Venezuela’s recent earthquake, and an intention to hold these consultative consistories regularly to shift the College of Cardinals toward collective pastoral discernment.