VATICAN CITY -- VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV said Thursday he intended to bring the world’s Catholic cardinals together annually, indicating a new governing style for the church that involves consulting its top leaders regularly and as a group.

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.

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,

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.

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday opened a new phase of his pontificate by gathering the world's cardinals to Rome and asking them to advise him on key priorities for the next two years. They responded by indicating continuity with Pope Francis' key aims of making the church more missionary and responsive to the needs of ordinary faithful.

The 170 cardinals attending the extraordinary consistory called by Pope Leo XIV set the church's mission and synodality as the priorities for their two days of discussions.

Pope Leo XIV announced plans for a second consistory in June, and pledged to hold such meetings annually — a move widely seen as signaling a more collegial and consultative style of leadership at the Vatican.

A day after closing out the 2025 Holy Year, Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday opened a new phase of his pontificate by gathering the world’s cardinals to Rome and indicating some reform-minded priorities going forward.

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.

The Cardinals remain in the top spot in our weekly Western Mass. rankings after winning their sixth game in a row.