Roman Catholic Bishops

"It is unacceptable and incompatible with Christianity to think of the protection of life in ethnic terms."

"The Church here is not subject to the kind of persecution that it experienced in the 17th century during Saint Oliver's ministry, nor as it is in many other parts of the world today. But I don't think you have to be paranoid to believe that there is a kind of persecution of the Church taking place here all the same. It is not physical persecution but it is no less real for that. It is more subtle. It takes the form of gradual exclusion of Church people or activities from the public space."

"The bishop's house is the external sign of the living cell of the local Church."

"One doesn't become a priest in order to become a Bishop... The only difference has been that whereas I was doing it at a parochial level, I've been doing it at a diocesan level for the past 15 years."

"As your bishop, in this moment of grief I also pray and invite Catholics to pray, entrusting the worries and suffering of everyone in this hour to the Lady of the Hill, our patroness"

"Can I say that this robe is going to lead to salvation? No, but this piece of clothing here can help me to perceive the imperceptible to see the invisible."

"Our church is like a child, it's not very mature, so we need your accompaniment, your help and your prayers, always in the love of the Lord."

"In the course of the years of formation, the students learn to understand what trust means: it is really faith, but it is a faith of abandonment, a faith of openness, of confidence through Mary by living with the Lord."

"As always, the experience for our young people is meeting young people from different parts of the world – in an Ireland in which it’s not necessarily cool and popular to be a young Christian and a young Catholic – for our young people to see that there are many others experiencing the same experience and to go away strengthened in their faith"

"Above all, my deepest concern is the formation of clergy and faithful."

"The secularisation of Church Aid and loss of missionary vision by the developed countries and their churches will do great harm to mission churches and also to the sending churches."

"Don Albino will lead us by the hand and help us find the path to a "holiness" accessible to everyone who desires to enter into the evangelical call of Jesus, addressed to all. Holiness as "lofty" inspiration certainly, but within the reach of every true disciple; holiness that is capable of dwelling in the ordinariness of one's own personal calling."

"Fifty years ago for several days the body of Luisa Piccarreta passed throughout Corato. The testimony of this evening suggests that her name is still alive among you and I would like it to be alive even in the whole diocese, because it is a glory for Corato but it is also a glory of the diocese. I wish that all of us could start to fall in love with this figure, meditating a little of her life."

"It is part of the Church's mission to ensure that every child has access to Christian catechism: it is education through which the faith of the child has the opportunity to grow and take root."

"Everyone is disposed to live - if the church gives them the opportunity - an excellent evangelizing adventure. The new evangelization demands of us that we value and respect the desires of all those who solicit it for their children, also for those who find themselves in special situations. In this way, we favor the personal, fundamental encounter with the living Christ so that we are able to open to each man and woman in our lands the way to conversion, communion and solidarity."

"You know well that Archbishop de Sousa was a friend of the truth and that he played a decisive role in your country's transition to democracy."

"I am pleased that, in the figure of Archbishop Isidore de Souza, the Church has contributed to a change of course towards democracy in our country."

"The great vitality of the African Churches is a motive for joy and action of grace. However, there are some signs of worry: passage to the sects, if not foundation of the sects, return and recourse to ancestral practices without discernment in moments of crisis. Evangelisation has not been able to make us discover truly the identity of the Christian being, nor attain the level of depth which is in authentic anthropological inculturation."

"Everyone is welcome in the church, but on Jesus' terms not on their own individual terms. If you're going to be Catholic, you have to accept the faith and the teachings of the church. You can't join a club and disobey all the rules."

"One of the great tasks of the Church in this century will be the proclamation of an integral anthropology. There are many anthropological reductionisms which have repercussions in lethal practices."

"When the people suffer, the Church suffers too."

"We should ask ourselves, how can we incarnate the Church in Asia? This seems to call for a deepening of our experiences in Communion, so that we will be able to witness to the Gospel. This calls for the formation of the laity to be true disciples of Jesus in the world. Furthermore, we need to promote a greater commitment to the process of inculturation of all aspects of our lives, with the spirit of freedom of the children of God."

"Historical reflection is always present, or at least should be, in every community. The truth about what happened here, behind the wires of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau built on the outskirts of Oświęcim, should not divide us in any way. The sacrifice of the lives of these people, preceded by cruel martyrdom, should become a unifying force for contemporary society, not only those living on the Vistula."

"Newness, if it comes from God, brings always with it a going beyond of what already exists. Tradition, if it is authentic, receives and gives a solid base to new advances"

"We need to see God's work as a positive element of this situation. Jesus doesn't have hands, but he has our hands."

"We, as a Church, before a "paraco," a guerrilla, must try to establish a pastoral dialogue."

"Starting from the faith in the Risen Jesus Christ, victorious over the Kingdom of evil, we can show the world paths of hope, peace, freedom; paths that lead to erasing ancestral fears, such as witchcraft that sowed much suffering among our peoples."

"Life in our countries is not easy. My diocese is in the Indonesian region of west Papua and daily problems include the need for more justice and peace frequently threatened by violence. However we have seen that local Churches in Africa and in America have the same difficulties."

"Let us never forget, especially as we find ourselves in this present environment of uncertainty: a nation, a people, who repent and embrace the grace and mercy of God will have hope and a future. But a nation, a people, who deny God and reject the gift of grace and mercy, and who remain immersed in their sin, unrepentant, will experience a hopeless future. We don’t know the future, but we do know life, and world conditions, can "turn on a dime.""

"An administrator has to be trustworthy, so the administrator is not the master, the administrator is not a slave who cannot decide anything, the administrator is somebody who has responsibility under somebody who stay over him and we know over us is Jesus Christ, so I invite you in your different responsibilities in the church to remember that we are administrators, not the masters."

"We have to plan long term activity working for a future of peace: we cannot not form new generations for war, we must educate them to peace and reconciliation. Moreover education must be integral, involving every aspect of the human person so as to form new Colombians with a mentality of peace, justice, truth and peaceful co-existence."

"With the concern of a father and brother for the priest and for the people of the diocese, the bishop who sees the bigger picture of the diocese makes a decision. I like to say that as the bishop, I see the planes coming in and the planes going out."

"The Constitution was adopted and a significant portion of the Swazi people was left out of the process. We believe that it was due to being marginalized that led some people to adopt crude and violent methods so as to force change in the country. This is really a cry for attention and recognition."

"The Swazi people are a homogenous group, having the same culture and speaking the same language. As such the Swazi people can be likened to one big family. We are thus once again called to live as a family. Every family has to face some problems and disagreements at some point. We should deal with these problems in a truthful and honest manner and above all in a spirit of charity."

"In their search for happiness, they've discovered that it is found in an intense and fascinating relationship with Jesus, in giving of themselves to help others to get to know Him."

"The Church should put at the heart of its ministry is that of refugees. Africa, as a continent, has the highest number of refugees and displaced people. Each person is entitled to a place where she/he can settle without fear. In fact, the very foundations of "a people of God" in the Bible is founded on a community which is settled in a place that it can call its own: where it enjoys security."

"The Church has a commitment to tell migrants they are sons and daughters of God and that their mission of being obliged to leave their place of origin is not to lose their culture and to share it with their host community. We should remind them of their task to regain their identity before God, themselves and other people so as never to feel they are a nuisance."

"To live life to the full - this is what every young person seeks. To explore life, to experience and enjoy all that it has to offer. Unfortunately in their eager search for joy, they often knock at the wrong doors and end up losing life itself."

"It is necessary to "know oneself and to know". That is crucial. Respect for one's own dignity, for one's own freedom, one's own history, one's own presence is respect for the other who comes along, with his identity, with his consciousness. There is no other way."

"The meeting with Jesus Christ must be personal. In compliance with the economy for salvation, people should therefore meet God in the community, in the Church, and in particular when the Church meets during a Liturgical Assembly. This meeting with Jesus Christ - in the life of each person - is celebrated in the Liturgy, where it reaches its peak and profundity."

"As a bishop, I was never political, but I always tried to make my presence felt among the people, standing with them and defending them when necessary. I always spoke to everyone because I felt strongly that whoever was in front of me was, before anything else, a human being."

"I met Benedetti a couple of times back in the 1990s at theological gatherings in Rome, shortly after he retired from Foligno, and was struck by his gentleness and lack of pretense, despite his impressive résumé."

"[Santa Monica Radio] is the best pulpit that has the Prelature of Chota and Cutervo."

"We are diocesan bishops... and here a certain level of responsibility and institutional attention is required"

"Don't be fooled and distracted by the things that steer you away from your faith."

"On the vigil of the feast of All Saints' Day, dressing up as beloved saints is a joyful expression of popular piety, reclaiming the Christian roots of Hallowe'en and cultivating the Church’s tradition of observing liturgical feasts. We don't all need theology degrees to celebrate the Church Triumphant, sometimes a costume will suffice."

"Peace never occurs in isolation. It is the fruition of a good life for all. For that reason, working for peace is considered to be a highly esteemed spiritual value. Peace is the greatest blessing of God to a people. Working for peace should be a central concern of the Church."

"We face constant harassment and persecution. The need of the hour is to address people's grievances and establish rapport with political parties of different ideologies to safeguard our people's interest."

"The Church at large, especially the Indian Church and the Society of the Divine Word in particular, have lost a young, energetic and beloved people's pastor. As friends and companions we lived together from the first days of education until the final days of our priestly ordinations. He was a simple, hard working, dedicated pastor. He had a large heart for the poor and marginalised. The gap created by his passing will remain, forever."

"This is a tragic time for us, but we should pray and remain united, without retaliating in the face of the violence."