Pope Francis spoke about his personal prayer life in a new podcast, recorded with an Argentine priest, Father Guillermo Marco.

The Pope said that “the prayer of a bishop is to take care of the flock, to put it in evangelical terms, and the Pope is a bishop, so he follows the same style. It is similar: to ask, to intercede, to give thanks for all the good that is done.”

Pope Francis said that he prefers to pray early in the day, “because if you don’t pray in the morning, you don’t pray anymore, because you are caught in the meat grinder.”

Questioned about the effects of growing older, the Pope said that: “At this age, I laugh at myself and move on.”

Father Marco is an old acquaintance of the Pontiff, having served as press spokesman for the Buenos Aires archdiocese under then-Cardinal Bergoglio.