Cardinals

"Gianna Beretta Molla was a precious witness of conjugal and family spirituality, an authentic path of holiness."

"(About Saint Ignatius of Loyola) He said it himself, he sinned long and hard, to quote Luther; his conversion was total, his expiation very long, accompanied by a love of life and works, including the foundation of a Company that after 400 years is still one of the pillars of our Church."

"Television has made it clear that my neighbour has no boundaries. Even in the Gospel, the neighbour in the parable of the Good Samaritan transcends boundaries, but television has made this clear to us..."

"Christ's resurrection is not a miracle. The God who through the Son assumed human nature, after his death on the cross reassumes his divine and immortal nature."

"Halloween is a type of celebration that is foreign to our tradition but has immense value and should be continued. The cult of the dead is part of our history: it is a time when hope for eternity is born. It is a time when the Lord makes us understand that life is more than just this earthly existence."

"Greater familiarity of European men and women with the Sacred Scriptures leads towards that experience of burning fire in the heart which was experienced by the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The Bible read and prayed, in particular by young people, is the book of the future for the European continent."

"Corriere della Sera reader: "I am an atheist, but I see beauty all around me." Cardinal Martini: "I am Catholic and you are an atheist, but ultimately we are united by the same wonder at creation.""

"A voice like Pope Francis's, and before that the voice that was Cardinal Martini's in Milan, manages to touch chords that exist but that the everyday fails to prompt. Bergoglio's attention to the world of non-believers, for example, was the global dimension of something we had already seen with Martini and his chair of non-believers, that experiment in the Church that aroused much controversy from a part of the clergy and the faithful. It was an occasion, the one proposed by the cardinal of Milan, that was received with more attention precisely by the secular world than by the Church. With Pope Francis the same thing happened."

"The Holy Father's trip to Britain may have caused a bad impression, and I want to reassure you that he has manifested his constant desire to be evenhanded to the two countries."

"His generous and intense work, first as a priest and then as the bishop of Tucuman and then for 23 years as the archbishop of this particular Church, extending his ministerial work after his retirement in the shrine of St. Cajetan as a witness to the cause of the Gospel, all are proof of his deep love for the Church and his zeal for saving souls."

"The migration phenomenon presents the Church both at departure and arrival with challenges and opportunities. The challenge is in offering in the name of Christ respect, welcome, assistance and protection to the new comer. Opportunity lies in human and Christian wealth which the new comer brings along and in the possibility of evangelizing the new comer."

"The tempest in which the African continent lives brings to mind that, for all the projects discussed during this Synod, one must remember that the African wager is a long term wager."

"Before a culture such as the present one with vast areas where God is absent and where God is ignored, we Pastors must be an encouraging voice full of hope in order to change this way into reality. Even if the Holy Spirit continues to offer us examples of holiness in the different organizations of the Church, however, it is necessary to have a broader movement, under the guidance of pastors, constant and globalizing, which invites everybody to be holy as an urgent issue of our times."

"The communion to which we are called must have very concrete objectives. According to Jesus the only objective is mankind in general and in particular the afflicted, the marginalized and the needy. I think it is clear to all of us that it is not only a matter of asking for charity in material goods from rich countries. No, poverty and scarcity of different nature are present on the whole Continent. From a Christian standpoint, we all have something to give."

"The faithful who have strayed will become conscious of their spiritual identity. In this respect it will be necessary for the Church to change mentality, for priests not to continue to use past methods, for a "pastoral conservation"."

"The proof of holiness for the Church is precisely small actions performed each day. The holiness of the "saints next door" is that lived every day by Christians who, in every part of the world, bear witness to Jesus' love and risk their own lives without ever taking into account their own particular interests."

"St Ignatius' precept was the ideal which inspired the late Cardinal's whole life in his faithful, caring, intelligent and prudent, generous and impartial outlook. He knew of the faults that existed in the Church and in her men, but with caring dedication, full of love and faith, he helped to alleviate their effects, working for the authentic renewal of the Church."

"Secularism with its constant emphasis on the material and the temporal, pleasure and self-indulgence, on money and the things money can buy is aided and abetted by the media. World Youth Day gives all of us occasion to pause and give deeper thought to the great questions of life and death, the Gospel message as well as the teaching of the Church."

"Father General was in full agreement with the line indicated by the Council, precisely in the challenging effort to reconcile what is enduring, and therefore unchangeable, in the charism of the Society with the demands of the current situation in the life of the Church and of the world. This is a difficult and delicate task and it is no wonder that in so many areas there was a difference of opinion."

"I hope that my being a member of the College of Cardinals can increase the affection and the devotion of the people of the Archdiocese of Washington for Pope Francis and his Petrine Ministry."

"Active participation of lay faithful in the evangelisation mission of the Church is neither a question of substitution nor ambition for power: it is a sacramental need which comes to us from baptism and confirmation."

"As I grew older, I had to cross the mountains of crisis in the seminary. I had doubts about my capacity and if this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life—problems everyone in the priesthood suffers—but I had so much spiritual direction to help."

"This appointment of mine as a cardinal I believe is a privilege for the Telugu region and will grow the faith of the Church in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. I am a Dalit, so this is good news for Dalit Catholics and for the entire Church in India. I believe it will bring the encouragement of Pope Francis to many."

"Those with goodwill will believe us anyway, while the malicious will not believe us even if we publish the figures."

"I like to think, especially during these days when the whole Church is as it were focused on the Eucharistic mystery, that precisely there, on the altar, Cardinal Caprio's life and ministry - the various posts to which the diplomatic service of the Holy See took him - would have found their deepest point of convergence."

"We don't condemn other voices, but we do expect to have the freedom for our voice to be heard. My experience in Washington is, if you are prepared to dialogue, to discuss and to listen, then you can sometimes get a chance to bring the Gospel to the discussion. It is very important for the Church to be present. It has to be present in the on-going efforts that are the political, social and cultural environment."

"For Benedict XVI, who with wide eyes and joyous heart climbed as a boy up to the sanctuary of Altötting, the Virgin Mary represents the achieved figure of his personality and his existence. In the Annunciation the Immaculate pronounced the fiat that was to unfold all its strength in the stabat of Calvary and was to find full accomplishment in the mystery of the Assumption. Mary, in fact, tells us all there is to know about cooperating in consent."

"There is always dialogue that has to do with the life of the Church, with the pastoral work and also with the life of the nation, with the economic changes, the changes that society expects and that the Church has encouraged, supported and long waited for."

"I felt the effects of the communist system, among other things I spent 2 months in death row and ten years in a communist concentration camp. After the fall of the totalitarian system, I was an eye-witness and participated in the subsequent religious freedom. I began to spread a thrust for faith. The rebirth of the Church is evaluated like a powerful force for the spiritual rebirth of the nation."

"The Church in Cuba is vital, but I don't think that vitality excludes difficulties, indeed I hold that vitality and difficulties are, in some way, complementary because difficulties demand effort and stir us from lethargy. I think that the difficulties experienced for many years in Cuba by the Church led us to use our pastoral imagination."

"I believe that we must remember that the strong points are born from on High, from the strength of God, from our faith in Him, from our service, from our word and from the grace of God. The weaknesses belong to the human and, therefore, also to the Church, which is made up of concrete persons, who are also sinners; they are born from that which we do not succeed in living in completeness and fullness."

"When I speak, I speak like a pastor and that I can never stop doing. If I stop doing that, then I will not be faithful to God, the Almighty."

"If we trivialize Communion, we trivialize everything, and we cannot lose a moment as important as that of receiving Communion, of recognizing the real presence of Christ there, of the God who is the love above all loves, as we sing in a hymn in Spanish."

"The election of John XXIII to the papacy has had varied and reliable interpretations, not always free of objections. Undoubtedly those who believe in the aid of the Holy Spirit, are not surprised by anything, least of all by the age of the man called, and often they rejoice; but even those who hesitate, biased by a reductive vision of the divine reality of the Church, are convinced that that election honored a biblical man."

"We want to bring some ethics back into the game, which has been undergoing a grave crisis in terms of sportsmanship."

"I'd like a church immersed in history, expert about humanity. A church like a mother, welcoming and forgiving, that doesn't want to proselytize but to evangelize, by telling people the beauty of God in a credible and fresh way."

"there are several countries in Africa which are guilty of abusive use and treatment of the gift of Creation. Over and above the bizarre instances of citizens from African countries accepting monies from European countries to provide dumping grounds in their own countries for industrial toxic waste, the greatest abuse and misuse of the environment are registered in the areas of extractive industries, such as mining and drilling for oil, and lumbering."

"As quoted in Fr. Dave Caron, Interview With Cardinal Peter Turkson (March 15, 2024)"

"We want to leverage the objectives of business—not only profit and monetary gain—but also the transformational value that it brings to society—making life better, worth living, equitable, and inclusive. I remain optimistic about the potential for positive transformation."

"In terms of training or the competence of the personnel, we try to work together with other organizations like Caritas, which typically has competent staff. In local churches, there are also other bodies. As for resources, we sometimes receive funding from here, under the castle. But we also receive support from other entities with philanthropic objectives that are ready to commit funds and resources to this development. Cross Catholic Outreach falls into that category; they can raise funds and support various development initiatives. So far, they have done an excellent job. I have recently come to know them, although some have known them better from their past relationship with the dicastery. We have found them to be dependable, beneficial and supportive benefactors of some of these projects aimed at promoting the development of people. They help support those in need, whether by assisting with facilities, providing food or promoting agricultural development."

"In seeking peaceful solutions, all notable diplomatic and political approaches aim at reestablishing truth, justice and peace. Christ is our peace, He made peace, He proclaimed peace, so that all Jews and pagans could be made one people. Not by leaving each other with their privileges and their rights, but in abolishing exclusion, in pulling down the wall of cultural and social separation, in destroying the hatred which He crucified upon the cross with his body."

"The story of my vocation is very simple. Maybe every priestly vocation comes out of an apparently trivial reason, but then grows and clarifies in the seminary. A vocation is a bit like the starter mechanism of a car, the spark that starts the engine."

"There are two ways to approach Jesus: with the approach of "the wise" who doubt his words, or with that of simple people, who give witness to the miracles of Christ and have eyes to see the Awaited."

"I bring the Pope's greetings, his Apostolic Blessing and his fervent wish that your nation continues to move forward in peace and stability, on a path of development that may become a model of unity and progress with respect for human rights and the environment whereby all its people can prosper and even the most vulnerable will not suffer marginalization or neglect. And all by remaining faithful in spite of great hardships - to its humane ideals."

"The Catholic Church in the European Union considers any attempt on the fundamental right to freedom of religion as unacceptable. The criminalization of circumcision is a very grave measure that raises deep concern."

"(Without Karl Marx) there would not be any Catholic social doctrine."

"Much courage is needed to make a decision of this importance, and I'm sure that he thought about it very thoroughly. So we ask the Lord to continue to accompany and bless him for the immense good he has done. Meanwhile I lament that in the future we won't have the lucidity and clarity of his teaching as Pontiff, although we will be able to continue to profit from the books, addresses and documents he has left us."

"There will never be a perfect world. A bishop knows that well."

"Homosexuality is not a sin. It corresponds to a Christian attitude."

"We do not need to ask ourselves which steps society has to take to make so many different people form a united America, but let's rather try to discern what we, as the Church in America, can achieve. Our proposal is to serve."