In a wide-ranging interview with top staff of America magazine, Pope Francis decried increased polarization within the Catholic Church, affirmed the need to involve more women in church administration but ruled out women priests and emphasized the importance of the ministry of individual bishops over the role of a bishops’ conference.

After learning that Cardinal Angelo Becciu and a relative of his secretly recorded a phone call with Pope Francis, the Vatican’s chief prosecutor said his office is considering a new charge — one of criminal conspiracy — against the cardinal, who has been on trial since July 2021 for financial malfeasance.

Violence against women is “a social scourge that is also linked to cultural attitudes, ingrained mentalities and prejudices,” so education, prevention and swifter justice are needed to end it, Pope Francis said.

Being so distracted that one does not notice God’s presence in daily life is a warning sign that one is not being vigilant enough, Pope Francis cautioned.

Nine months after Russia launched its war on Ukraine, Pope Francis wrote to the Ukrainian people expressing his admiration for their courage and commitment to their country in the face of so much death and destruction.

Praying for peace in Ukraine, Pope Francis remembered both the victims of Russia’s current aggression and the millions of victims of a Soviet-engineered famine 90 years ago.

The spiritual practice of discernment, of seeing where God is at work in one’s life and what God is calling one to do, includes examining what brings a sense of consolation and spurs one to do good, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis has suspended the secretary-general and other top officers of Caritas Internationalis, appointing a temporary administrator to oversee improved management policies and to prepare for the election of new officers in May.

Christians and Jews are called to give witness to their faith by “working to make the world more fraternal, combating forms of inequality and promoting greater justice,” Pope Francis told members of the World Jewish Congress.

Meeting the U.S.-born patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Pope Francis expressed his hope that Christians of the East and West could finally agree on a common date for celebrating Easter.