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.

Cardinal Claudio Hummes was one of Brazil’s main religious leaders and a strong advocate for the poor.

Cardinal-designate McElroy told reporters on May 31 that he believed the pope selected him because he wanted a cardinal on the U.S. West Coast and because of his support for the pope’s pastoral and ecclesial priorities.

When asked if he felt he had changed during his papacy, the pope said he was told by several people “that things that were dormant in my personality came to the surface; that I became more merciful.”

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle speaks with Sant’Egidio’s Elizabeth Boyle about the lay group’s efforts to foster peace and friendship in South Sudan.

The papalization of the church reached its most robust form in the first half of the 20th century, but it might be seeing its twilight under Pope Francis.