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.
Leo also signaled a desire to press ahead with the reforms of the late Pope Francis, who battled with conservative cardinals while trying to make Catholicism more inclusive by welcoming gay Catholics and discussing women’s ordination.
Beginning the closed-door summit on Wednesday, Leo said the Church would only grow if it could attract people with a message of God’s love for everyone, according to remarks released by the Vatican.
