The Jubilee ends. A Consistory begins. The real start of the pontificate?

The Jubilee Year officially ends today.  That means that, in some ways, Leo’s pontificate really starts today.  He is no longer burdened with the pre-programmed audiences, etc., that the Jubilee entailed.  Emblematic of that is that a consistory, which he called, begins tomorrow.

At Il Giornale writer Nico Spuntoni has info about the consistory (formal meeting of cardinals with the Pope).  Here is an English version:

Working Groups and Lunch with the Pope: Here is the Program for the Consistory
Tomorrow the first extraordinary consistory of the pontificate of Leo XIV opens. We reveal all the appointments for the members of the Sacred College.

Leo XIV will not have time to rest after the closing of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica this morning. [Thus the Jubilee Year is officially over.] Tomorrow, in fact, the Pope is expected at the first extraordinary consistory of his pontificate. In these hours, cardinals from all over the world have arrived in the Vatican for what the Pope, in a letter we anticipated, defined as “a moment of communion and fraternity, of reflection and sharing” aimed at supporting and advising him “in the arduous responsibility of governing the universal Church.”

The Program
We revealed how Leo XIV proposed in his Christmas letter the re-reading of two documents of his predecessor, Evangelii gaudium and Praedicate evangelium, and indicated “Synod and synodality” and “liturgy” [!] as “topics of particular relevance.” But how will the consistory actually take place? Today IlGiornale is able to present the detailed calendar.   [I would have preferred Veritatis splendor.]

The registration of the cardinals will begin tomorrow at noon in the atrium of the Paul VI Hall. After a welcome coffee, the actual work in the new Synod Hall will begin at 3:30 pm with community prayer, followed by a greeting from the Cardinal Dean, the Italian Giovanni Battista Re. At that point, the Pope will give an introductory speech, which will be followed by the presentation of the work.

Three Sessions
The complete program arrived to the cardinals with little notice. In the three sessions of the consistory, “spread” over two days, working groups have been planned, from which group reports will then emerge. A working method already seen in the meeting of cardinals on the reform of the Curia at the end of summer 2022, but which is not the traditional method of consistories. Even at the time, the inability to speak publicly, as was done in consistories and pre-conclave congregations, did not please all the cardinals. The members of the college will discover, after the Pope’s introductory address, the guidelines for the formation of the working groups. In 2022, the criterion used was linguistic, but the results were not satisfactory for everyone. The working group format was not mentioned in the first convocation sent by the cardinal dean on November 7th.

Lunch with the Pope
Tomorrow, the first session will conclude at 6:45 PM with the Pope’s address and prayer. Work will resume on Thursday morning, after Mass at the Altar of the Chair, with the opening of the second session. In this “window,” after the group reports, at 12:00 PM there will be free interventions on the topic. The cardinals will then have lunch with the Pope before beginning the third and final session at 3:15 PM.

In the afternoon, after the group reports and free interventions, the Pope’s concluding address and the final Te Deum are expected at 6:45 PM. Time is short and there are many cardinals: will Leo XIV manage to hear everyone’s opinion? [Certainly not.]