The commission gathered in Rome to reflect on findings from the continental stage of the process leading up to the assemblies of the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican in 2023 and 2024.

Father Hans Zollner clarified that his resignation was not intended to personally attack anyone or impede the work of the commission, which he called “a success in itself and a great idea by Pope Francis.”

The Vatican’s chief prosecutor said Pope Francis has given him free rein to investigate the 1983 disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old Vatican resident.

Building harmony is not only a way of improving the church or being polite, Pope Francis told them, but “an intrinsic demand of the life of the Spirit.”

“If those full seminaries had forged holy pastors, and the traditional formation imparted to them (were) solid and true, we wouldn’t have to mourn so many scandals today,” Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the papal household, said.

More than 24 hours after he entered the hospital, Pope Francis’ doctors reported a “marked improvement” in his condition, which they attributed to treatment with intravenous antibiotics.

Father Phillip Larrey said conversations on AI must shift to what Pope Francis calls “person-centered AI.” The pope, he said, “is insisting that you need to put the human person at the center of this technology.”

The pope said that cardinals and senior Vatican officials will now have to pay "ordinary" rent payments on the apartments owned by the Vatican in Rome.

The pope prayed that “all who honor his memory will be confirmed in the resolve to reject the ways of violence and overcome evil with good.” 

At the end of April, Pope Francis will travel to Hungary, where he will meet with government officials, refugees, scholars and young people in the capital of Budapest.