Consistory cardinals debate synodality and its future under Leo XIV

Despite the initial reports, some division was indeed present at the consistory last week as cardinals defended divergent notions of Synodality.

VATICAN CITY (PerMariam) — Despite the official description of last week’s consistory being unified in its outlook, the interventions from prominent cardinals suggest that the legacy of Pope Francis’ synodality remains a point of division.

During the post-consistory press conference last Thursday, Johannesburg’s Cardinal Stephen Brislin commented that though there were some differences of opinion on certain topics, the cardinals were nevertheless united. That, however, appears not to have been a full representation of the matter.

Consistory January 8, 2026. ©Vatican Media

A number of cardinals speaking off the record to The Catholic Herald and Messa in Latino, mentioned concerns they had about the process itself and the control being levied over the prelates assembled.

But more than that, it seems that the troubled legacy of Pope Francis’ synodality could be the biggest stumbling block not just for the College of Cardinals but perhaps for Leo’s own pontificate.

The future of synodality depends on how the cardinals and Leo understand and interpret it: whether as a useful tool to locate genuine issues or as the endless process of questioning already settled Church teaching. So far, it seems a strong number of cardinals created by Pope Francis are on-board with the style of synodality which has hitherto been witnessed, or at least happy to be led by the vocal majority.

Some concerns are beginning to be tolerated, however, with the consistory cardinals apparently mentioning last week that it would be good to have more clarity on synodality itself – over four years after the Synod on Synodality actually began.

It seems that the battle over the identity of synodality will be waged between the small number of hardline activists, such as Cardinals Mario Grech and Jean Claude Hollerich, Fabbio Baggio and Victor Fernández, and those who vocally oppose it, such as Cardinals Gerhard Müller, Joseph Zen and Raymond Burke.

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, Francis’ ghost-writer and interim prefect of the CDF, urgently proposed the Church renew its attention to the late pope’s 2013 text Evangelii Gaudium. In order to promote evangelization, the Argentine attested that “it is the synodal missionary reform that ultimately consists in putting in the background what does not directly serve to reach everyone with this first proclamation.”

There was no further explanation of the relegation of certain aspects which do not, according to Fernández, assist evangelization. But he appeared to refer to certain aspects of the Church’s moral teaching as he criticized that “sometimes we end up always talking about the same doctrinal, moral, bioethical, and political issues.” This, he argued, buries the Gospel message.

Vatican observers will be forgiven for hearing such a speech with cynicism given that Fernández’s text Fiducia Supplicans promoting blessings for same-sex couples ushered in arguably the biggest de facto split in the Church for decades, and led to widespread rejection from numerous episcopal conferences. Out of supposed concern for all and in order to be a “welcoming” Church, Fernández's presented the idea to the world that the Church was well on its way to approving of same-sex relationships.

The Church is nowadays somewhat shy in proclaiming the truths about pressing moral questions which the world defends – such as abortion and euthanasia – and thus for Fernández to suggest further dilution of anything deemed to be controversial is unlikely to win him much applause in the thriving and fervent areas of the Church.