VATICAN CITY — Cardinals from around the world underlined the need for the Catholic Church to respond to growing global polarization and social fragmentation and to strongly proclaim the Gospel.
They spoke during a June 26-27 extraordinary consistory at the Vatican during which Pope Leo XIV urged the cardinals to reject war as “never blessed by God” and to embrace a style of listening, collaboration and synodality in the church’s mission.
According to the Vatican press office’s summary of the closed-door gathering, discussions centered on the “deep fractures” shaping today’s world and their disproportionate impact on the poor, marginalized people and young people.
The cardinals also reflected on the challenges posed by artificial intelligence, emphasizing the importance of recognizing human limits in order to safeguard the dignity of work.
Many participants said the pursuit of the common good is rooted in faith, which enables people to cross boundaries and foster solidarity with the poor. This charity, the Vatican summary said, can serve as an “antidote to individualism.”
Several groups also stressed the church’s responsibility to help form future public servants, saying political life has an essential role in overcoming social fragmentation, tribalism and extreme individualism. They said the common good requires Christians to resist conformity, corruption and a sense of helplessness in the face of growing concentrations of wealth, while finding hope in the recognition that these challenges are shared across the world.
The cardinals also said the church itself must undergo renewal by “avoiding forms of fundamentalism and polarization,” according to the Vatican summary.
Celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica before the working sessions began June 26, Pope Leo said the unity of the human family “takes precedence over individual peoples and states” and described peace as “a duty of justice”
Therefore, war is never worthy of humanity, and it is never blessed by God, because, even if we are equipped with high-tech weapons, the Creator has endowed us with intelligence and free will to resolve conflicts as human beings and not as beasts,” he said in his homily.
Some of the items on the consistory agenda focused on the Synod on Synodality, Pope Leo’s first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” and the Church’s mission in a rapidly changing world.
The remarks further developed one of the central themes of the encyclical, released in May, in which the pope called the traditional just-war theory “now outdated” in an age shaped by advanced weapons systems and artificial intelligence.
Developed through the writings of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, just-war theory has long held that military force can be morally justified only under strict conditions, including self-defense, legitimate authority, proportionality and the exhaustion of peaceful alternatives. The teaching has resurfaced in recent debates surrounding conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Quoting his encyclical, Pope Leo said the Church must continue working toward a “civilization of love,” offering an alternative to ideological division, violence and instability because “the Church is never partial, since she is for everyone.”
Addressing the 178 cardinals who attended the June consistory, the pope said in his introductory remarks after the Mass that “none of us is untouched by the many forms of conflict, domination and division that run through our societies today.”
He also asked the cardinals to help him discern how the themes of “Magnifica Humanitas” are being received in local churches around the world.
“I am especially interested in hearing how these pages resonate in your churches, what questions they raise, what perspectives they open and what steps they suggest,” he said, adding that an encyclical continues its life only when it is “received, interpreted and embodied in the concrete life of the churches.”
Following the closed-door morning session, the Vatican released a summary, saying that each of the ten working groups of cardinals spoke of “suffering experienced by men and women living through this period of profound social transformation.”
A consistent theme throughout the first day was the growing polarization around the world and a deepening distrust of institutions and democracy, trends that have fueled political tension and violence and have been exacerbated by the spread of misinformation. The Vatican summary also said the cardinals spoke of religious violence in many parts of the world, citing the rise of antisemitism, as well as the rise of loneliness.
Throughout both his homily and opening address, Pope Leo repeatedly returned to the importance of listening. Known for his style of attentive listening and collaboration before his election, Pope Leo told the cardinals the papacy “cannot be lived in isolation.”
“It needs your experience, your pastoral wisdom and your knowledge of the Churches and peoples entrusted to your care,” he said. “I need your support: strong, explicit and public.”
The pope encouraged frank discussion during the consistory’s working sessions and said he welcomed honest disagreement offered in a spirit of communion.
“I need your freedom, your candor and your loyalty,” he said. “Sincere counsel is always an act of communion.”
He also emphasized that the cardinals had gathered not simply to discuss the Church itself.
“We are not here first and foremost to reflect on the Church’s internal life,” he said.
Instead, he said, the themes before the consistory all point toward a single question: “How can we help our churches today proclaim the Gospel with greater fidelity, freedom and credibility?”
Many groups discussed loneliness experienced by both the elderly and the young, contributing to increasing rates of suicide and drug use. Some cardinals aired concerns about the societal impact of secularism.
“They noted that a growing weariness and the absence of a shared horizon of truth have made it increasingly difficult for people to recognize the dignity of others and to build authentic relationships,” the Vatican summary said.
The Vatican press office reported that some cardinals said the Church should respond to growing social divisions by serving as a welcoming mother, acknowledging its own shortcomings and standing alongside those who suffer. They identified synodality, charity, solidarity, education, popular piety and efforts to promote peace and dialogue as hopeful signs for the Church and the world.