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First, notice that one can have a somewhat cheating solution, like this: You didn't say what $A$ was, but let me assume that it is consistent. There are two cases. If $\Sigma$ happens to be consistent, then let Con(Sigma) be any statement that $A$ proves, such as a tautology. If $\Sigma$ happens to be inconsistent, then let Con(Sigma) be any statement that $A$ does not prove, such as the negation of a tautology. It then follows that $\Sigma$ is consistent if and only if $A\vdash$ Con(Sigma), as desired.

Second, notice that in general there cannot be a non-cheating solution (Edit: provided $A$ is particularly simple: computably axiomatizable), since the consistency of a theory is a $\Pi^0_1$ assertion, and the provability of a sentence in an elementary theory is $\Sigma^0_1$, and there will be no way to surmount this. For example, if there is a sentence $\sigma$ such that PA proves ("PA is consistent" $\iff$ PA$\vdash\sigma$), then since PA really is consistent, it will follow that PA$\vdash\sigma$ and hence that PA proves that PA$\vdash\sigma$, since it proves all true existentials. Thus, PA will prove its own consistency, in contradiction to the incompleteness theorem.

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First, notice that one can have a somewhat cheating solution, like this: You didn't say what $A$ was, but let me assume that it is consistent. There are two cases. If $\Sigma$ happens to be consistent, then let Con(Sigma) be any statement that $A$ proves, such as a tautology. If $\Sigma$ happens to be inconsistent, then let Con(Sigma) be any statement that $A$ does not prove, such as the negation of a tautology. It then follows that $\Sigma$ is consistent if and only if $A\vdash$ Con(Sigma), as desired.

Second, notice that in general there cannot be a non-cheating solution, since the consistency of a theory is a $\Pi^0_1$ assertion, and the provability of a sentence in an elementary theory is $\Sigma^0_1$, and there will be no way to surmount this. For example, if there is a sentence $\sigma$ such that PA proves ("PA is consistent" $\iff$ PA$\vdash\sigma$), then since PA really is consistent, it will follow that PA$\vdash\sigma$ and hence that PA proves that PA$\vdash\sigma$, since it proves all true existentials. Thus, PA will prove its own consistency, in contradiction to the incompleteness theorem.

    Post Undeleted by Joel David Hamkins
    Post Deleted by Joel David Hamkins
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