Pope Leo met on Thursday with the world's Catholic cardinals as part of a two-day summit, urging the senior clerics to shun divisions in the 1.4-billion-member Church and focus on attracting new believers.

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday closed out the Vatican’s 2025 Holy Year by denouncing today's consumerist and anti-foreigner sentiment, capping a Jubilee that saw some 33 million pilgrims flock to Rome and a historic transition from one American pontiff to another.

With Pope Leo’s closing of the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica Jan. 6, the Jubilee Year of Hope that had been opened by Pope Francis Dec. 24, 2024, came to an end, symbolically closing the era of Francis for the universal Church, and opening an era of Leo – of which the consistory is seen as the beginning.

The closed-door meeting comes as Leo inherits a deeply divided church and seeks to set the tone for his papacy by emphasizing unity, shared responsibility and evangelization rooted in listening.

While providing no specifics, the Vatican said the consistory is taking place "within the context of the life and mission of the church, and intends to strengthen the communion between the Bishop of Rome and the cardinals,

Even if the Vatican were to release a full transcript of this week’s consistory—which it certainly will not do—a detailed breakdown of the conversations among the cardinals would not be the most important takeaway from the meeting.

Pope Leo XIV closed the Holy Wear on Wednesday with his first meeting with the world’s cardinals at a two-day extraordinary consistory focused on aspects of Church teaching that many traditional Catholics oppose.

NCR's 10 most-read news stories of 2025 include coverage of the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV, massive aid cuts by the Trump administration, Detroit's archbishop firing three theologians, and more.

The Colts cut the lead to single-digits in the fourth quarter but the Cardinals steadied the ship and held on for their sixth straight win.