Pope Francis’ message of hope for humanity encased in a small satellite blasted off into space June 12 and soon will beam his words back to Earth.

A papal resignation should occur only in “truly extreme cases” and must not “become the norm,” said the former head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office.

While the Catholic Church does not promote a single political party or legislative agenda, it does insist that Christian politicians always work to promote human dignity and advance the common good, Pope Francis said in a message to the European People’s Party.

As Pope Francis continued a smooth recovery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, he was back to work and shared a Sunday meal with his closest collaborators, the Vatican said.

Among the many messages Pope Francis has been getting over the course of his first full day recovering from abdominal surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, his favorite, so far, was a large card from a Peruvian family he met during his last hospital stay.

Pope Francis had a restful, peaceful first night at Rome’s Gemelli hospital after a successful three-hour operation June 7 for a hernia.

Pope Francis was scheduled to undergo surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital June 7 to treat a hernia that had developed at an incision of a previous operation, the Vatican said.

Pope Francis’ peace envoy to Ukraine, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, was finishing his two-day visit to Ukraine June 6. He met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid breaking news of the destruction of a critical dam and hydroelectric power plant along the front lines in southern Ukraine that Zelenskyy blamed on “Russian terrorists.”

Pope Francis returned to the hospital for a brief medical checkup June 6, the Vatican said.

With Cardinal Sepe’s birthday, just over two-thirds of the currently eligible voters were made cardinals by Pope Francis.