Roman Catholic Bishops

"You have to trust me by getting to know how I live, what priorities I place in my life. My life kind of has to be an open book. That is to say, there can't be any secret part to it."

"Our bodies and minds don't naturally tend to provide health care. We have to make concrete choices, and make them together as a political society, in order to succeed in providing health care."

"In our day we have a desperate need of the spirit of the declaration Nostra Aetate issued 40 years ago. I hope all religions will always be ready to work together for the good of humanity through sincere dialogue, despite the different teachings of our faiths"

"Denounce the spreading culture of death and state the whole truth on life and the family in the light of the Gospel and Church teaching and speak out in favour of a culture of life and the family."

"The Pope chose to go to the periphery because that is where the sufferings the people live are to be found—real life. It is a sign of his concern for those living in Rome, a way of showing he is near."

"Every citizen has — in his place of origin — to have the necessary means for subsistence, so that we don't need to be immigrating. Therefore, I appeal to the Mexican authorities that they will find means to help millions of Mexicans live and work here, so that they don’t have to be humiliated, seeking the means to live elsewhere."

"May they know that despite our failings and human weaknesses, a sincere desire of brotherly service towards all of you spurs us on, as a sign of our faithfulness to the Lord, who has called us to work with Him in the building of the Kingdom of God, in the here and now of our Diocese of Juarez."

"The greatest challenge has been to work for the poor and for those who are far from the Church. I thank God for this award but I would say that the greatest honour I wear is the cross of Christ."

"We should give ample recognition to the role of the Holy Spirit in the dynamic of faith. The Holy Spirit should be given greater prominence in all our efforts towards new evangelization for the transmission of the Christian faith."

"At this moment, the priority is to bring God to the hearts of men and women, and men and women to the heart of God, and this is part of the message of Fatima. This is because we live in a time of religious indifference. Our greatest enemy is not militant atheism but religious indifference. This indifference is fought with the joyful and convinced testimony of faithful Christians."

"Corruption is difficult to neutralize because it adopts multiple forms; it is stamped out in one area, and resurfaces in another. We need persistent will on the part of leaders and the generous collaboration of all citizens."

"We have to recognize the personal dimension of our relationship with God. But that relationship is stunted if it does not go hand in hand with a deep sense of being part of a larger community called to join in worship and to witness to God's kingdom of peace and justice in our world."

"The pope knows the people he is trying to reach. Over the years, though, my experience with a few members of these splinter groups has convinced me that the Latin Mass is at most a rallying point, a handy focus. The real issues go much deeper, into faith, the meaning of church and Gods salvific will."

"We all know how easy it can be to submit passively to the opinions of the crowd. But the Christian in whom Christ is risen sometimes needs to dare to think and act differently, not because they are arrogant, but because they listen carefully and respond to the guidance of God's Holy Spirit at work within them. They know they are not alone, and that God's grace will provide them with what they are lacking."

"As you step away from the strong articulation of the teachings, you get into the pastoral practice of what do you do in some of these very difficult and challenging situations. Sometimes we don't come to the same conclusion about how to handle it."

"Be very careful and send more people to be formed as formators. It's not enough to have a degree in theology. There's more to it."

"On the Cross we venerate God who does not just offer us sympathy, from the safe distance of heaven; but rather God who, in his love for all humanity, became a human being, Jesus, who revealed God's love in his words and actions and, most especially, in his being willing to suffer and die on a Cross for us and all humanity, so as to become our Saviour."

"While vocation is a call from God, it can be responded to only in an environment where God has a place. Good family life which is built on the love of the parents for one another and for the children, good Catholic Education and a strong sense of responsibility for the Church may be some of the reasons why young men continue to consider the priesthood as a possible choice of life."

"The renewing power of the Holy Spirit is touching this country, especially the hearts of young members of the Church preparing for World Youth Day. It was an exciting moment and a call to renewal in Christ, not only for young people but for the whole diocese."

"We are here to remember the past and to plan for the future. We need to examine and assess what we are doing. Young people nowadays in spiritual terms can't distinguish right from left in order to make the sign of the cross. Civitavecchia, today more than ever needs Don Bosco and his sons - the Salesians."

"Jesus Christ came into the world, to heal a world divided by hatred and prejudice. The Lord Jesus Christ teaches that it is possible to forgive if we make God's love our own."

"Many parishes, communities and groups live their faith but they feel no call to share it. Many Christians, including convinced and practising ones, are completely unaware of their responsibility to announce and share their faith with others"

"There are too many controversial issues in Sri Lanka: people who disappear, others arrested and illegally detained, tortured or killed in prison. I hug, talk and deal with the aspirations of the faithful who live in my diocese and, more generally, throughout Sri Lanka. For me it is a human, spiritual and religious mission."

"The love of Jesus Christ is the most powerful weapon against hatred. Only the light of Christ can quench the torches of hatred and violence. Let us pray for peace."

"We must always be guided by the voice of freedom, of human dignity, of our own responsibility, of the defense of human rights, proclaiming the Greatness of the Lord. If God is present with us, all of the values we proclaim will not be excuses but rather means for building a promising future."

"Let us go to Mary with the Rosary, knowing that she is the star, she is our hope. Although we are surrounded by darkness and life appears hopeless, by the feeling that there are no true values, and the powers of the Beast assail us, let us have recourse to the strength that flows from the humility of the Woman God chose to be His Mother, and our country chose to by its Patron."

"There is no need for a Patriotic Catholic Church because we are all one Church."

"We must work for this. Our God is the God of life and life is his gift. In no way can we be among those who work for death, on the contrary we must work for life. The Congress was a call to all men and women to remember we are loved by God and we must love him in return."

"I spent the last ten years working in Bidar, and there was a lot of work to do. We set up a tight network of social programmes which were never enough though. People here live under the yoke of poverty."

"In these tragic events God is always on our side. He continues to visit us, to meet us, and then it's up to us to bring his peace throughout the world."

"Today, Christians can celebrate this feast with full conviction that Christ has given a fuller meaning to the festival of light."

"It is the time for the local Church to be self-reliant and help build the universal Church. Therefore, mission work is not only the responsibility of priests but also of the laity, so I call on all laypeople to always serve the Church."

"The prophet not only speaks "in the name of God" but also "speaks about God" ... and this is better. Does the Vincentian charism speak about God? Without a doubt it does. Indeed, for the society in which we live, is there a better way to speak about God than that of using the gestures of justice and charity."

"He is a true pastor. I was deeply moved by his homily on the day of the inauguration of his ministry, particularly by the use of the image of the wasteland. Many people, for different reasons, including poverty and abandonment, are living in the wasteland of modern, secular society. It seemed to me that in the words of the Holy Father there was a wonderful compassion and understanding of the suffering of people in today's world."

"The command of Christ to evangelise all nations is still as urgent today in our times as it was at the beginning of the Church. Through the centuries many approaches to evangelisation have been tried, even in Africa. Some have worked, others have not. That is why in the last few years the Church in Africa and especially in the AMECEA countries has opted for the establishment of the SCCs as a valid option for evangelisation."

"We must improve our living together by seeking a deeper dialogue on issues that separate us, but taking into account the orientation of the Catholic Church. We must remember the admonition of Paul VI to the effect that the ecumenical dialogue there should be no compromise on doctrinal issues."

"Exclusion from the Sacraments easily leads first to alienation and resentment, and then to seeking membership of another Church which offers a compassionate welcome."

"I wouldn't have become a priest if had I not had the background in the formation in the Catholic youth movement. The basic aim of the movement was the formation of leaders for the mission of the Church."

"My first and foremost concern is to offer the Church priests and religious who are motivated and well formed to serve the faithful."

"This most shameful situation is making a fierce intent to rid us of our social and city peace and tranquility. We need to make people aware of the dignity of every human person, his right to live and work in fraternal harmony and live together in an environment of respect and community stability.”"

"Natural laws cannot be ignored, just as one cannot ignore the directives contained in the manufacturer's manual if one wishes his machine to function well. The physical world has laws which must be respected. Both prophets of doom and of hope have extensively written about the deteriorating condition of this earth as man's home, and most of them have made suggestions on how to reverse the situation. Environmental protection has become a global issue deserving the attention of everybody."

"To the faithful of the Mentawai Islands, I say: this is a disaster that has devastated your lives, but do not be discouraged! Now is not the time to ask ourselves how and why, but we extend our heart and hands to God, with faith and prayer. Do not be afraid, but be ready to hope that the Lord and our brothers are close to you in your suffering."

"All religion and all politics is local. And if that motto is true, then the church has been and always will be most alive at the parish and school level. The diocese is at its best when it’s at service to the parishes and schools and is almost invisible in the life of the church. The more locally we engage discussion, the more creative it is, the more receptive it is, and the more reactive it can be to the real problems."

"The Catholic Church is directly involved with the situation of the street children. Like the street children around the world, the street children of Maroua are also exposed to different hazards. Several years ago, we created a center in Maroua named "Belle Etoile," which takes in children seeking a refuge from the streets, for a longer or shorter period of time, respecting their full freedom. Our first concern is primarily that they find their families and to every possible extent, we prepare the children to return to live with their family."

"Good local and regional governance, is indeed the "conditio sine qua non" for local and regional authorities to faithfully keep to their mission of serving the common good of the communities."

"An effective experience of solidarity among the countries of America will overcome injustices and economic inequalities."

"Nobody is immune. We all bear responsibility for the huge social debt that Argentina has, and the kids that assaulted us are victims of that debt."

"The mission of the Church is the one given to her by Christ: to be a force for evangelization and leaven for the building of a Christian community as well as leaven for national unity."

"The Catholic champion for the liberation of the slaves was the French Cardinal Lavigerie, Archbishop of Carthage and Algiers. In 1868 he had founded the Congregation of the White Fathers, with the mission to put an end to slavery in a hitherto inaccessible area of ​​Africa. That unknown area stretched from the southern border of the Sudan to the English colonies of South Africa in its full breadth. The first caravan to reach Central Africa left Marseilles in 1868, the travel experiences were such that Lavigerie had his people accompanied by armed old Zouaves, they had defended the Papal States in Italy against the nationalist armies of Garibaldi who fought for the unification for Italy, the Papal troops lost the fight and the Zouaves, including many Dutch who had become stateless returned home, therefore the first Dutch to enter the African interior were 3 Zouaves."

"Lavigerie was a wonderfully practical man, and he was also a historian at the Sorbonne in France, where he had that vision of reconstructing the interior of Africa, as it had been done in Europe in the Middle Ages by a kind of kingdom, but with settlements of freed slaves, most of the population in East Africa was really helpless, Lavigerie therefore wanted the missionaries to build settlements and missions, for which he sent brothers, former Zouaves, and fathers, who then had to learn the language, and also had to learn how to build, and when those slaves were freed by the various expeditions that were sent out, they were sent to the missions. The idea behind this was very practical, and so was the idea that the Africans would become this new Christian people, like how Clovis was converted, and then gradually France, on that myth he built everything."