Catholics From The United States

"It all begins with the family, That's where all the vocations come from. Priests, sisters, brothers, deacons, we do not come flying down from heaven. We come from families."

"There's no boasting that can happen in the Lord's vineyard. So sometimes young people look at a priest and say, "Oh, he must be an angel." No, we're no angels — angels are only in heaven. We're men doing the very best we can to serve God and to serve His holy people and to fall in love with God and with the people. If you really hear the call of the Lord, be generous because it's a wonderful life. After 34 years as a priest, I can really and honestly say I have no regrets."

"It takes a village to become an Olympian and I can confidently say that my faith and the support I've received from the staff and students at St. John’s have been instrumental in this journey."

"I hope to remember my perseverance and courage that went behind achieving my goal. I also hope to remember that the lessons I've learned up to this point will serve future generations as they pursue wheelchair racing."

"Wheelchair racing to me is so similar to this feeling of flying – the feeling of going so fast that it’s almost effortless at the same time. When all of the biomechanics line up in the right way, the sport is so elegant."

"The African diaspora is growing; I think it's exciting. I want to see how we can continue to be relevant to various African diaspora whether they're from Haiti, Ghana, Kenya or Nigeria, wherever they’re from. We need to go back to the biblical days, where the early Churches weren’t all one culture. The Church of Corinth was a mixture of many cultures, and yet Paul was able to work with them and called them to work out what it means to be the body of Christ. We have to do the same today. The African diaspora is very rich, and if we could use the cultural gifts of everyone and allow those to embellish, enrich and enliven us, man, we could set the Church on fire!"

"Glorifying Christ comes first, always. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t look to Christ in my times of need or doubt. When we turn to Christ, our joys are multiplied."

"There's a right of self-defense here that's involved: We know the government has to respond, so we will not be subjected to these types of attacks in the future. But the response should be measured, restrained as much as possible, to protect innocent civilians. It should not just be military. We should pursue diplomatic ways, legal ways, any other ways we can address that."

"There's a God that will makes things and will makes things right even though they look totally wrong and that's what kept me going."

"We need to continue the conversation with mutual respect, and aloha. We need to keep talking about this with our friends, our family members, our colleagues, so that when the opportunity does come for change, we'll be ready."

"I am not a part of the lavender. I would never belong to that evil. I couldn't help that I was his auxiliary. I didn't know anything about McCarrick. The poor victims, my gosh. There is evil at work here. This is a spiritual battle."

"Religious faith and its practice cannot be taken for granted and we must be resolved in our defense of our cherished freedom to practice our faith, especially in the context of a secular culture which many times is opposed to its basic beliefs. History has witnessed many instances of blatant disregard for religious liberty which has resulted in devastating persecution."

"The decayed theology of the last 40 years has left little room for a reasoned approach to charity. Access to meaningful work is dignity. Work gives a person well-being, support, and societal participation. Those who suffer from severe incapacity should not be required, but a holistic approach to charity should integrate work when possible."

"The African experience of Church and community has its own dynamics and culture. The particular situation they find themselves in is more trying to fight the assaults on human dignity and human family that are being imposed upon them by the West."

"In an age of real anxiety, and ever-shifting change, the permanency of the papacy gives people something to cling to that is higher, and everlasting. And it has deep meaning for people even of non-Christian traditions, even people who are just authentically striving for good through goodwill."

"We tend to think of aid as our main mechanism by which we assist people, and of course, it is essential and important. But, without a security overlay and without a deeper understanding of the trauma that is there, we perhaps won't fulfill the fullness of the potentiality of our generosity."

"Jesus Christ founded one Catholic Church with fundamental truths and sacraments. He did not detail the way that should be experienced. History and geography have provided the alternate expressions. With a unified Catholic Church, our differences can be ways of understanding those truths and celebrating the sacraments while protecting their integrity."

"If you don’t have a relationship with Our Lord, and are not responding to what you believe to be His call, it will be a dry life. It's important that a priest have common sense. It's important he know how to relate to people, to be able to socialize and engage in their lives. People need to know that their priests care about them, and are willing to help them. We’re all in this life together, and if we live out our faith, it will end well for us all in eternal life. The priesthood is not an easy life, but if it is something God is calling you to, he'll give you the grace to live out your vocation well."

"While some bishops may travel with someone to help with the driving, I go by myself. I prefer it that way. I like the solitude. I don't listen to music. I pray and say the Rosary, or think about things. It gives me a lot of time to myself. Not everyone would like it."

"Just continue to help and guide the parishes, continue to reflect on the challenges of Vatican II. The church is meant to serve the people through the parishes. Continue to support the priests as well."

"Putting politics and emotion aside, the church's teaching on this matter is clear: We must pray for the well-being and enlightenment of our civic leaders, and we must pray for the salvation of the sick and dying — without exception, whether we like them or not. The reason we pray for those who do not believe is so that they might be open to God's graces. Who knows? The Lord might indeed call them, as he has called so many, on their deathbed. The Lord wants everyone to be saved. This may seem unfair, but we know from the teachings of Jesus that God's ways are not our ways. Our justice is not God's justice."

"Fear of suffering is a great obstacle to being a happy person in life. God wants us to be happy. Asceticism is not supposed to make us sad. It’s supposed to free us to be able to understand and do what God wants. He wants our happiness. He wants us to bring happiness to others."

"I think I've learned more about that over the years. You can't solve everything, and God is the one who is ultimately in control of the world."

"This experience of the 20th century, in which people of faith and other people of good will stood up to the greatest human challenge, the challenge of totalitarianism, this school of faith has much to offer to western Europe and to the broader international and ecclesial community. I think Ukraine and the Church in Ukraine has a great responsibility to share this story. Today, this Church is growing and I am convinced that it has a vocation to help the universal Church."

"The catacombs are not romantic – the underground is real. Fear and distrust entered into the DNA of the population. We know that all relationships, particularly marriage and family relationships, are based on trust. And over the last century, the trust of the people of Ukraine has been tried in ways we cannot even imagine."

"In our world of darkness, we need to turn to Mary, who gave us Jesus, the light of the world. In our culture of death, we need to turn to Mary, the first disciple to hear and proclaim the gospel of life. In our secularist society, we need to turn back to God. Mary, the mother of God, and our mother, will show us the way and lead us back to her son, our Lord. The nation, the world, who forgets the mother, is in danger of forgetting the Son, in danger of losing our way back to God."

"To truly promote confidence in these vaccines, we must start by acknowledging this history of mistreatment and exploitation of minorities by the medical community and the government. But then we need to explain and demonstrate all that has been done to correct and address these wrongs."

"Don’t be scared to live your faith. When I was young and went on my first trip I was hesitant to speak up and say that I wanted to go to Mass. When I stuck to it and showed that I lived my faith I got respect from my teammates."

"We will be judged on cowardice. If we don't do what's right for women in sport. It's a very worthy cause. What women have been given through sport in this role in their life, it's really priceless. And so we can decide that that's worth saving, that's worth holding on to and investing in for our future. Or we can just say, hey you know what: we've got this little side agenda that has a strong really loud voice and we're either going to yield to it or not."

"It's very important for Christians to be thinking Christians, not just partisan Christians."

"To undo the clarity of faith and morals of the Church would neither be fair nor honest, in fact, it could betray the very purpose explicitly stated by those preparing the synod"

"I don’t believe we really choose who is going to be canonized, God does."

"Stalin, soon after he came to power, ordered his cronies to invade Catholic seminaries (...) with young men that had neither faith nor morals. Now (...) the ideal cases: homosexual. Obviously, you don't suppose that someone (...) well, it's much more complicated, you know, to have an affair with a woman. But if you're a homosexual, and then it was a tragic mission (...). [Dodd] declared publicly — I repeat, publicly — that in the course of the 20 years of activities for the Communists, she recruited some 1,100 young men."

"In the 1930s, we put eleven hundred men into the priesthood in order to destroy the Church from within."

"All of us are out there to be servants in the same way that Jesus served the will of the Father. It seemed to me that that’s our goal, and that we're trying to make an impact but then basically not leave a particularly big wake. You know what I mean? We come in quietly, we go out quietly."

"I never considered my decision as “walking away from Hollywood,” I felt it was more — walking into something more significant and by that, I took Hollywood with me. I really loved my work and the people I worked with."

"I do feel a joy in my heart, not just the fact of being a bishop, but the way that my ordination has been received by everyone: my friends from bygone days who are here, my colleagues from the Archdiocese of Santa Cruz, the people and clergy here in Cochabamba where I am an unknown quantity; everyone has been wonderfully welcoming and making their greatest effort to help me feel at home in this Church. My family that is here has brought me a real sense of joy."

"I confess that it was personally a source of great joy when the revolution of the Pititas achieved its objective, as now a matter of great concern that the Movement to Socialism will return to power. It's not, as in sport, about my team winning or losing. I sincerely see the MAS as a great threat, not because it represents left against right – for me they are the same – but because it wants to absolutize itself with power against democracy and against the Kingdom of God, and therefore to the detriment of Bolivia and to the detriment of the Church."

"Why does God allow natural disasters and tragedy? Because good seems to flourish in close proximity to evil. Tragedy provides an opportunity to make saints out of sinners."

"Washington is known for Starbucks and Microsoft, but very little is said of agriculture that generates wealth for the state. Most of the people working in this field are migrant workers, and I am here because we need them."

"We have to see the agenda beneath the agenda. Many would like to see Catholic services and the Catholic Church go away."

"I’m hoping that the Catholic Church is going to be more present in our neighborhoods and our communities and that we are reaching out, because we believe in Jesus and love him so much that we want to share him with everyone and bring him to the lives of all, not just Catholics."

"The Centenary of Independence has a double significance. One is looking back, thanking God for the gift of freedom, for those who gave their lives and suffered for freedom, both in the early years of national independence, as well as during the many years of occupation during which such a great price was paid to preserve the hope of freedom. It is also a call to look toward the future, to preserve the flame of freedom in our hearts today; to understand the deeper meaning of freedom, not only a freedom from oppression, but also a freedom to find one’s vocation and to serve God and one’s neighbor. This is especially true for our young people, who must see what different types of things limit their freedom today, as well as the responsibilities that true freedom gives us."

"Mary’s openness to God is an essential element in God’s plan for our salvation. By her openness to bear the Son of God, she becomes a primary instrument in our salvation. Now, we are also invited to be instruments of God’s plan for our salvation and the salvation of others. We do so first of all by responding to God’s offer of mercy personally and striving to become holy persons. We do so secondly by being instruments of grace and mercy as we help others to become holy. An image I often use to convey this is that of an electrical charge flowing through a copper wire. The wire cannot store up the electrical charge, but only allow it to pass through. If it cannot pass through the wire, it never enters into it. Mercy acts very much like this. If mercy does not flow through us, it never actually enters into us. Paradoxically, it is when we allow it to pass through us that we grow in grace."

"Simone is so good that the rest of us can only hope to finish second to her in the all-around. What else can you do? She does all sorts of crazy things no one else can do."

"She’s the saving grace for U.S.A. Gymnastics, whether they have admitted it or not. Boy, they are a mess. If it wasn’t for her, I really don’t know how they would still be around."

"But at the end of the day it’s like, we want to walk out of here, not be dragged out here on a stretcher. I just don’t trust myself as much as I used to. And I don’t know if it’s age—I’m a little bit more nervous when I do gymnastics. I feel like I’m also not having as much fun, and I know that."

"We're not just athletes or entertainment -- we're human, too, and we have real emotions. Sometimes they don't realize that we have things going on behind the scenes that affects us whenever we go out and compete."

"I am going back home in one piece, which I was a little bit nervous about. It's not how I wanted it to go, but I think we've opened bigger doors and bigger conversations."

"It's so crazy. I'm happy I was able to get back out there and do one more routine, especially since I had the girls there rooting me on as well as the guys. It just felt really amazing. I'm proud of myself for the way I pushed through and even learned that dismount that I haven't done in years. And just put up a good set, that's all I really wanted. I wasn't expecting to walk away with a medal or anything, I just wanted to go out there and do it for myself. And I did."