Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
Ten days after saying he would name two women to the group that helps him choose bishops, Pope Francis appointed three women to the office.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Reuters news agency, Pope Francis condemned abortion, dismissed the idea that he's preparing to resign and said he still hopes to be able to visit Russia and Ukraine in the fall.
For many people in Rome, Pope Francis' decision to schedule a consistory to create new cardinals in August was more surprising than the men he chose to receive the red hat.
Seeing scenes of a war on television is one thing, "touching this reality is another," Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, Vatican foreign minister, said in Ukraine.
Before washing the feet of 12 inmates, Pope Francis told them and other prisoners that God never tires of forgiving anyone who asks.
Russia's war on Ukraine frighteningly raises the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons, the unleashing of radioactive material from nuclear power plants and a new push to develop or acquire nuclear weapons, including by terrorists, said members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said it appeared Ukraine could keep Pope Francis safe if he made a wartime trip to Kyiv, but the pope's safety was not the Vatican's only concern.
Indigenous want truth about past, partnership for future
VATICAN CITY -- Ted Quewezance came to the Vatican looking for closure.
Changes to Curia constitution open positions to laity
VATICAN CITY -- A Vatican office led by a cardinal or archbishop has no more authority than one led by a layperson because all offices of the Roman Curia act in the name of the pope, said experts presenting Pope Francis' new constitution on the Curia's organization.
'With a heart broken,' Pope Francis prays for peace in Ukraine
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis said his heart was "broken" by the war in Ukraine, and he pleaded again, "Silence the weapons!"