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.

The season upon us now, Advent, is a time to prepare our minds and hearts to celebrate the coming of God into our world.

Parishioners may see some unfamiliar faces in church during Advent and Christmas. Instead of thinking begrudgingly that they may be sitting in “your” pew, it might be better to welcome them with open arms.

Father Ivan Levitsky, a hieromonk and rector of the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, and Father Bohdan Geleta, who works at the church, were detained by Russian troops Nov. 16, and the church was illegally searched the following day.

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.