Crux

Pope Leo XIV has written Easter greetings to the College of Cardinals, with a little bit of business included in the prayerful well-wishing and gratitude expressed for their work during a consistory meeting in early January of this year. It does not take too much careful parsing of the letter, dated April 12 and sent from the Vatican, to see how the pontiff is carefully and deliberately steering the cardinals ahead of their next consistory at the end of June. “In my concluding remarks in January,” Leo wrote, “I already referred to some elements regarding synodality that emerged from the groups.” “Now,” he wrote in the very next sentence, “I wish to focus in particular on what emerged from the groups regarding Evangelii gaudium, especially concerning mission and the transmission of the faith.” Leo, in short, is gently but unmistakably focusing the cardinals’ attentions away from synodality, a buzzword of the Francis pontificate that absorbed enormous resources but never really received a practical articulation or even a working definition. RELATED: Pope Leo XIV gives first indication of how he might change ‘Synodality’ At the same time, Leo is concentrating the cardinals’ energies on the first major piece of writing, the post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii gaudium, widely considered the best piece of writing come from Francis during his dozen-year whirlwind pontificate. The move to focus on Francis’s seminal exhortation is particularly telling in light of the fact that the cardinals chose synodality and Evangelii gaudium from among the four topics of discussion Leo offered them ahead of the January gathering. RELATED: Consistory documents show cardinals cautious at start of Leo XIV’s reign “Your contributions,” Leo wrote in his April 12 letter, “make it clear that this exhortation continues to be a significant point of reference.” Leo told the cardinals how, in their discussions during the January gathering, they emphasized many ways in which the exhortation “challenges the Church at every level.” On the personal level, Leo says, Evangelii gaudium “calls every baptized person to renew their encounter with Christ, moving from a faith merely received to a faith truly lived and experienced.” RELATED: Can a ‘Synodal Church’ exist under Papal Primacy? The exhortation calls communities to “shift from a pastoral approach of maintenance to one of mission,” requiring them “to be living agents of the proclamation” of the Gospel. Leo even gets into specifics on the point: Noting the need to foster “welcoming communities that use accessible language, attentive to the quality of relationships, and [are] capable of offering places for listening, accompaniment and healing,” all things that were motifs of his predecessor’s pastoral vision. “At the diocesan level,” Leo wrote, “the responsibility of Pastors to resolutely support missionary boldness emerges clearly, ensuring that such boldness is not weighed down or stifled by organizational excesses, but is guided by a discernment that helps us to recognize what is essential.” RELATED: Does the concept of ‘Synodality’ have running power? The history of ‘Papal Magisterium’ is mixed “From all this flows a profoundly unified understanding of mission,” the pontiff wrote, one he said was centered on Christ and on the fearlessly joyful proclamation of the Good News of his resurrection. “It is born of an encounter with Christ that is capable of transforming lives and spreading through attraction rather than conquest,” Leo wrote, “an integral mission, holding in balance explicit proclamation, witness, commitment and dialogue, and yielding neither to the temptation of proselytism nor to a merely institutional mentality of preservation or expansion.” If there had been any concern or even any mere uncertainty within the college over the direction of the Church under the new pontiff, the letter dispels it. RELATED: In the New Year, we can expect the beginning of the Leo-era Pope Leo’s letter to the cardinals is at once disarming and reassuring to parties across the spectrum of opinion in the college, focusing attention away from a nebulous and contentious holdover of the Francis era – synodality – while incorporating the substance of the vision from which his predecessor’s pontificate drew its undeniable pastoral enthusiasm. “Even when the Church finds herself in a minority,” Leo wrote, “she is called to live with confident courage, as a small flock bringing hope to all, mindful that the aim of mission is not its own survival, but the communication of the love with which God loves the world.” The letter, in short, is a rhetorical masterstroke, executed by a writer in perfect control of his message. Readers of this scribbler’s Leo XIV: The New Pope and Catholic Reform may well recall how people who met the man we now call Leo XIV when he was head of the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome were frequently amazed at cardinal-prefect’s ability. Then-cardinal Prevost “impressed his staff with his ability to listen with careful attention and to keep meetings properly focused,” I noted, “sometimes despite the best efforts of other participants,” and often enough “without the meandering and loquacious parties ever becoming the wiser.” Here he is, as Pope Leo XIV, doing it again. Follow Chris Altieri on X: @craltieri

In Easter letter to cardinals, Leo sets the tone and the agenda

Trump’s social media attacks have put Leo XIV in the U.S. presidential mix

In Easter letter to cardinals, Leo sets the tone and the agenda

Vatican visitors slam Trump over attacks on the US-born pope’s message of peace

Separatists in Cameroon announce a 3-day pause in fighting for pope’s visit

Trump’s social media attacks have put Leo XIV in the U.S. presidential mix

A ‘frank discussion’ is changing the dance card for the US and the Vatican

Were Leo XIV’s remarks at peace vigil meant for Trump?

Confessions of a ‘secret source’ from the Vatican

En route to Africa, pope says, ‘I don’t fear Trump administration’

A ‘frank discussion’ is changing the dance card for the US and the Vatican

Three US cardinals call war on Iran ‘unjust’ and criticize Trump for ‘gamification’ of war

DC’s Cardinal McElroy calls Iran war ‘immoral’, calls for action

Crux. Anytime. Anywhere.

En route to Africa, pope says, ‘I don’t fear Trump administration’

A ‘frank discussion’ is changing the dance card for the US and the Vatican

Three US cardinals call war on Iran ‘unjust’ and criticize Trump for ‘gamification’ of war

DC’s Cardinal McElroy calls Iran war ‘immoral’, calls for action

Trump’s social media attacks have put Leo XIV in the U.S. presidential mix

A ‘frank discussion’ is changing the dance card for the US and the Vatican

Were Leo XIV’s remarks at peace vigil meant for Trump?

Confessions of a ‘secret source’ from the Vatican

Trump’s social media attacks have put Leo XIV in the U.S. presidential mix

In Easter letter to cardinals, Leo sets the tone and the agenda

Vatican visitors slam Trump over attacks on the US-born pope’s message of peace

Separatists in Cameroon announce a 3-day pause in fighting for pope’s visit