Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The scourge of drug trafficking, that favors violence and sows the seeds of suffering and death, requires of society as a whole an act of courage.
Our efforts must aim at restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments, and thus promoting the well-being of individuals and of peoples.
A population that does not take care of the elderly and of children and the young has no future, because it abuses both its memory and its promise.
We ask for peace and freedom for the many men and women subject to old and new forms of enslavement on the part of criminal individuals and groups.
Those called to the service of governance in the church need to have a strong sense of justice, so that any form of injustice becomes unacceptable.
No one must use the name of God to commit violence. To kill in the name of God is a grave sacrilege. To discriminate in the name of God is inhuman.
May all people here find inspiration and strength to build a future of reconciliation, justice and peace for all the children of this beloved land.
I'm overwhelmed by shame that the people who had the responsibility to take care of the tender ones violated that trust and caused them great pain.
To use a telling phrase of the Reverend Martin Luther King, we can say that we have defaulted on a promissory note and now is the time to honor it.
I tell priests to flee from clericalism because clericalism distances people. May they flee from clericalism and I add: it's a plague in the Church.
Human rights are not only violated by terrorism, repression or assassination, but also by unfair economic structures that creates huge inequalities.
The charismatics confused the holy liturgy with a school of samba, but than I was converted when I got to know them better and saw the good they do.
The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.
Although the life of a person is in a land full of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good seed can grow. You have to trust God.
The Big Bang, which today we hold to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the divine creator but, rather, requires it.
Trade unions have been an essential force for social change, without which a semblance of a decent and humane society is impossible under capitalism.
Not all Muslims are violent, not all Catholics are violent. It is like a fruit salad; there's everything. There are violent persons of this religion.
There are people who are afraid to go to confession, forgetting that they will not encounter a severe judge there, but the immensely merciful Father.
We have to work harder to develop a profound theology of women within the church. The feminine genius is needed wherever we make important decisions.
I like it when someone tells me 'I don't agree.' This is a true collaborator. When they say 'Oh, how great, how great, how great,' that's not useful.
Among us, who is above must be in service of the others. This doesn't mean we have to wash each other's feet every day, but we must help one another.
Take care of brothers and sisters who are weaker ... the elderly, the sick, the hungry, the homeless and strangers, because we will be judged on this.
It is the disease of cowards, who do not have the courage to speak upfront and so talk behind one's back... Watch out against the terrorism of gossip!
I like it when someone tells me: 'I don't agree.' This is a true collaborator. When they say 'Oh, how great, how great, how great,' that's not useful.
Do not be afraid to go and to bring Christ into every area of life, to the fringes of society, even to those who seem farthest away, most indifferent.
Proclaim the beauty and truth of the Christian message to a society which is tangent by confusing presentations of sexuality, marriage and the family.
We cannot wait any longer to deal with the structural causes of poverty, in order to heal our society from an illness that can only lead to new crises.
Do not forget, read a passage from the Gospel every day. It is the power that changes us, that transforms us, it changes life and it changes the heart.
The blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to be heard by everyone who can still distinguish between good and evil.
The church does not need apologists of its causes nor crusaders of its battles, but sowers humble and confident of the truth, who ... trust of its power
Our world is facing a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Second World War. This presents us with great challenges and many hard decisions.
The true strength of the Christian is the power of truth and love, which leads to the renunciation of all violence. Faith and violence are incompatible.
The proclamation of the saving love of God comes before moral and religious imperatives. Today sometimes it seems that the opposite order is prevailing.
Before God and his people I express my sorrow for the sins and grave crimes of clerical sexual abuse committed against you. And I humbly ask forgiveness.
From my point of view, God is the light that illuminates the darkness, even if it does not dissolve it, and a spark of divine light is within each of us.
In some countries, if you carry the Gospel, you can go to jail. You can't carry a cross, because you'll have to pay a fine. But still, the heart rejoices.
The media only writes about the sinners and the scandals, he said, but that's normal, because 'a tree that falls makes more noise than a forest that grows.
Today, we need a Church capable of walking at people's side, of doing more than simply listening to them; a Church which accompanies them on their journey.
May we always care for our children, not counting the cost, so that they may never believe themselves to be mistakes, but always know their infinite worth.
Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction.
One of the more serious temptations which stifles boldness and zeal is a defeatism, which turns us into querulous and disillusioned pessimists, sourpusses.
Missionaries never give up on their dream of peace, even when they experience difficulties and persecution, which makes their presence strongly felt today.
Proselytism is solemn nonsense, it makes no sense. We need to get to know each other, listen to each other and improve our knowledge of the world around us.
Proselytism is solemn nonsense; it makes no sense. We need to get to know each other, listen to each other and improve our knowledge of the world around us.
I see clearly that the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity.
God never closes off horizons; He is never unconcerned about the lives and sufferings of His children. God never allows Himself to be outdone in generosity.
Today Saint Paul has told us that in Christ we have become God’s adopted children, brothers and sisters in Christ. This is who we are. This is our identity.
Today let us all ask ourselves whether we are afraid of what God might ask, or of what he does ask.... Do I truly let God into my life? How do I answer him?
I'd say I dream in Esperanto. Sometimes I remember some dreams in another language, but dreaming in languages no, but figures yes, my psychology is this way.
If, hypothetically, Western Catholicism were to review the issue of celibacy, I think it would do so for cultural reasons, not so much as a universal option.