By Joshua McElwee
VATICAN CITY, Jan 8 (Reuters) - 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 signalled 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.
"Only love is trustworthy; only love is credible," said the pope. "While unity attracts, division scatters."
Massimo Faggioli, an Italian academic at Trinity College Dublin, who follows the Vatican, said Leo was "working to convince the cardinals that they need to work collectively together to do what the Catholic people want them to do".
"Leo is cautious, but I think he will continue on Pope Francis' trajectories," said Faggioli. "I don't think he will go back."
Francis, who led the Church for 12 years, died in April. Leo, formerly the U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost, was elected the new pope in May.
One hundred and seventy of the world's 245 cardinals were attending the summit, which ends on Thursday, the Vatican said.
The clerics have been asked to refrain from publicly discussing their meetings in order to allow for frank conversations, spokesman Matteo Bruni said.
Leo, opening his first full year as Church leader, asked the cardinals on Wednesday for advice on what priorities he should focus on for the next two years.
British Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe urged his peers to shun divisions. If they quarrel with one another, he said, "we shall be of no use to the Holy Father".
(Editing by Janet Lawrence)
