Pope Francis authorized spending up to 1 million euros to free a Colombian nun kidnapped by Al Qaeda-linked militants in Mali, a cardinal testified Thursday.

Pope Francis is willing to help negotiate an end to the Russian war against Ukraine, but warned that religious leaders “are not clerics of the state.”

Pope Francis asked his safeguarding commission to provide an annual audit of what the church is doing to protect minors and what needs to change.

Cardinal George Pell praised Pope Francis’ reforms to improve transparency in the institution while addressing questions raised by recent financial scandals in the Catholic Church.

“Look closely at the relationship you have with your mothers-in-law: at times they are a bit special, but they have been the mother to your spouse, they have given you everything.”

Pope Francis formalized appointments to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and named new secretaries to the restructured Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.