Pope Leo XIV’s consistory risks reopening Vatican II’s deepest wounds

Over the past week, many Catholics have been anticipating Pope Leo XIV’s first extraordinary consistory with a mixture of hope, relief, and unease. On the surface, the signals look familiar: synodality, Vatican II, liturgical reform, participation. For some, that familiarity is reassuring. For others, it raises an immediate and troubling question: are we simply returning to the same categories, the same debates, and the same unresolved tensions that have defined the post-conciliar Church for decades? In a new, long-form analysis now published on Catholic Unscripted on Substack, I take a close look at what has actually happened so far during this consistory, what has been said publicly by Pope Leo, cardinals, and bishops, and what these signals may mean beneath the surface. One of the most important moments came not in a formal decree, but in Pope Leo’s general audience catechesis on Vatican II. His emphasis on liturgical reform and active participation has been widely reported, but far less attention has been paid to how those words land today, especially among younger Catholics who did not live through the Council and increasingly see it not as a source of renewal but as a symbol of permanent ecclesial instability. This generational shift matters, and ignoring it carries real pastoral risk. Is there actually any catalyst left in the Council documents that can breath new life into the Church? The article also examines the unresolved liturgical conflict unleashed by Traditiones Custodes. Before the consistory began, many hoped that this gathering of the College of Cardinals might finally provide a forum to address the injustices and divisions created by the suppression of the traditional Roman Rite. While the official agenda is carefully worded, reporting from inside the consistory reveals something more complex, including candid remarks from cardinals not usually associated with traditionalism who now openly acknowledge the damage caused by liturgical abuses and heavy-handed centralisation. At the heart of the analysis is a framework that helps make sense of why Vatican II continues to divide rather than unite: the post-conciliar split between Concilium and Communio. This is not an academic footnote. It is the fault line running through debates about synodality, doctrine, reform, and memory. Understanding this distinction sheds light on why some Catholics experience the Council as continuity and others as rupture, and why the language of “process” and “becoming” has increasingly worn thin. The piece also engages directly with the significance of Bishop Robert Barron’s public intervention on synodality during the consistory, situating it within the Communio tradition of Ratzinger, de Lubac, and von Balthasar. His warning about a Church permanently “in council” speaks to a deeper anxiety shared quietly by many bishops and faithful alike. Finally, I reflect on the decision to invite Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe to deliver the opening meditation. For many Catholics, this choice intensified unease rather than reassurance. And yet, parts of Radcliffe’s meditation were unexpectedly perceptive, especially his recognition that the post-war world order is collapsing and that the Church herself is battered by internal storms. Holding together legitimate concern about his theological trajectory with an honest appraisal of his words is part of the broader challenge facing the Church right now. This article is not written to inflame, but to clarify. It asks whether Pope Leo XIV is attempting to broker peace between factions created under his predecessor, or whether the continued framing of the Church’s future through Vatican II risks alienating precisely those Catholics who are most committed to her survival. You can read the full analysis, including detailed discussion of the consistory, synodality, Vatican II, and the pressures now bearing down on Pope Leo XIV, by subscribing at: 👉 www.catholicunscripted.com If you care about the future of the Church, about liturgy, doctrine, continuity, and the faith being handed on intact to the next generation, this is a conversation worth entering.