Catholics From Italy

"There were two conclave, the one of the cardinals and the one of the media. I participated in the first one...I knew before I left for Rome that I would return. There was a very quick and very clear consensus among the cardinals on the choice to be made. I assured him [Pope Leo XIV] of obedience, closeness in prayer, loyalty and the will to work together for the Church in the world and in the Holy Land."

"This is not the first time we have a conflict in the Holy Land. But this conflict has had an impact like no other. There is a clear ‘before’ and ‘after’, October 7, 2023, even if we struggle to define and understand what this ‘after’ is. The emotional, economic, psychological, human impact has been enormous on both populations, Israeli and Palestinian. For the Israeli population, it was a huge shock. Israel was founded as the home where Jews are safe, and suddenly that no longer seemed true. The hostage issue is the most crucial point for Israel. We are seeing protests continuing all over the country. Israelis are divided on many things, but they all agree on one: the hostage issue. It is a huge issue. Even for the Palestinians, what happened after October 7, in Gaza but also in the West Bank, was an incredible shock. I would say this is true for the Arab population in general. We are dealing with fear and feelings of hatred and resentment that, in these proportions, had never been seen before. We also have to consider the economic impact that the war is having on social life: part of the Palestinian population has lost their jobs, but even in Israel the situation is not easy ­– just think that there are no more pilgrimages. People who were working have been called to arms. Life is difficult. There is a deep sense of distrust that permeates society at all levels. It will be very difficult to rebuild trust after all this, partly because we cannot see what come next, when it will all end."

"Cardinal Pizzaballa: The truce must hold, and everything must be done to ensure that it does. There are those who are working against it, we know that, but we must try not to give them any space. The agreement is the same as it was months ago. I believe it has been reached now because perhaps the human and international political conditions have matured. The important thing now, however, is to turn the page immediately and start dealing with the extremely serious humanitarian situation in Gaza."

"We are made of flesh and bones, we need to experience, to touch, to see, to feel. Christianity is not spirituality, it is mysticism. Mysticism means experiencing, touching. The Shroud is a bit like the Sacraments, a kind of Sacrament. The Sacraments are a sign of an experience, of an encounter with Christ. And so it is with the Shroud. First of all, the Shroud immediately takes you back, with its image, with its reality, to two thousand years ago; and then it introduces you to that experience of resurrection and encounter with the Risen One: the Risen One who is present. Only you need to feel this presence, to touch it, and the Shroud introduces you to this experience."

"It is objectively an intolerable situation. We have always had many problems of all kinds, and the economic and financial situation has always been very fragile, but there has never been hunger. This is the first time we have had to deal with hunger. This is intolerable."

"After this crisis, one of the most serious of the last 70 years, neither Israelis nor Palestinians will be willing to seek temporary solutions. These events will force everyone to find stable solutions. [Two peoples, two states?] I don't know. Technically it seems difficult to me, even if it would be the only possible way. It is clear that whatever you choose to do will have to guarantee stability and freedom for both peoples."

"(About the 2003 invasion of Iraq) Saddam Hussein was a Sunni, and the Sunni Islamic minority – a significant minority – effectively held power. The Shiites did not; on the contrary, they had been oppressed, especially in the centre and south. So when Saddam's regime fell, the first thing that happened was that the Shiites took power. As a result, between the allies who were advancing and bringing down the regime and the others who did not know how they would react, anarchy reigned. Every day there were attacks, not military ones, but by those seeking to seize power or take advantage of the situation to steal. It was a period of huge fires and casualties: just because someone was driving by, they would steal their car... There was chaos, no one knew who was in charge, the military and the police had disappeared, there was no authority of any kind to control the situation. Everyone remembers the looting of the ministries, except for one that was immediately guarded: the oil ministry. I remember well how one of the most terrible things was the looting of the museums, where thousands of works of art disappeared. Even the American military took them away, and in fact they were later found in their backpacks. The burning of the immense Library of Baghdad was also terrible. For two or three days, ash rained down on the city. It was an unacceptable destruction: to attack the libraries was to attack history, the life of a people, not to mention the fact that all of humanity was deprived of priceless treasures."

"After the great times of John Paul II, who gave us a vision of a universal Church capable of breaking down walls, and after Benedict XVI, who spoke to us about God in a profound and accessible way, Pope Francis has offered a synthesis of these two visions. I believe that we cannot fail to continue along this line. However, each Pope interprets Peter's mandate in his own original way, listening to his brothers gathered in the Conclave, who bring with them the experiences of their Churches and cultures. [...] The new pontiff will have to strengthen the unity of the Church. He will have to intensify ecumenical relations and interreligious dialogue. And then there is the methodology: the Church has walked on a path of synodality, collegiality and appreciation of episcopal conferences. I believe that this path must be consolidated. The new pope is called to walk among his people, but keeping in mind the realities of those who are ahead, those who are behind, and those who are on the right and on the left."

"(About the 2025 papal conclave) The future nominations? You do that in the media and newspapers. We are not yet at the decision stage, we are still discussing. [Pope Francis] He was a free man who loved people and humanised the Church without desacralising it."

"If we base coexistence on human rights, then we all have the same rights. The Middle East belongs to everyone because of its ancient culture and civilization. We are indebted to it. Also, from the Christian point of view, here took place Jesus’ life, that of the prophets, of the primitive Church that had great vitality for centuries. The Christian presence, even in its multiform expressions, is important. The logic of making these communities disappear is like making life disappear and preparing a desert, an impoverished environment. For millennia, the presence of so many religious, ethnic and cultural expressions has enriched this region. Of course, it is not like persecution never got the better of civil coexistence there in the past — far from it! But we ask ourselves: Must we continue with that logic? Have we learned nothing from history and from the suffering of millions of people? Is it still necessary to resort to the logic of oppression? Why should the riches of that region make envy, jealousy, oppression prevail instead of development, sharing and peaceful coexistence?"

"The Eucharist, especially in this difficult period, cannot be left on the margins of our lives but must be returned, with even more strength, to the center of Christian life."

"Pier Giorgio is proof that it is also possible to be holy while living entirely with the world, having fun with friends, drinking a glass of wine, going to theater, at school … his living with the world, enjoying the beauties of the world; but that didn’t lessen the spiritual part of his life — on the contrary.And he had the exact same problems and concerns as so many young people today. He used to have difficulties with exams, which weighed down on him a lot. This is why many students identify themselves with him. He also had problems with his parents, who didn’t get along and who were about to separate. He also secretly loved a young woman that he decided to let go. His joyful faith and his freedom are also a great source of inspiration for youth. Pier Giorgio instilled the idea that faith is not something that limits you; on the contrary, it frees you; it gives you wings. He used to have an incredible freedom in his opinions, choices — in everything. He believed that freedom is the greatest gift that God gave to his creatures."

"He didn’t want a life of spiritual mediocrity, he didn’t want mere worldly success, he wanted the heights of intimacy with Christ and service to the poor."

"Pretending to be God and parroting his power of creation is an enormous risk that can plunge men into a barbarity. Never forget that there is only one creator: God. In the wrong hands, today's development can lead tomorrow to a devastating leap in the dark."

"True revolution and a concrete change in the world can only come from the saints and from God. In the 1900s we experienced the revolutions, whose spirit was that of not waiting for God, taking the destiny of the world into our own hands. And we saw how that human and partial way of seeing things was seen as the only means of finding one’s way in the world. The Holy Father teaches the act of speaking about things as though they were absolute when they are simply relative, is called totalitarianism. It does not free humans, but instead, takes away their dignity, enslaving them. It is not ideologies that save the world, but turning our attention to the living God, who is our creator, the guarantor of our freedom, the guarantor of what is really good and true. The real revolution involves turning our attention completely to God because he is the measure of what is right and is eternal love."

"So what do we want? What does the Society of Saint Pius X want? We want the cross. We want the cross of Our Lord. We want to celebrate this cross, and we want to enter into the mystery of this cross. We want to make this cross our own. There are not two possible crosses, and there are not two possible redemptions or two possible Masses. [...] In this sense, the Mass is truly our flag, our banner. And in a battle, the banner is the last thing to be abandoned. There is one last thing that the Society must obtain. And it is crucial. We do not want this Mass solely for ourselves, but we want it for the universal Church. We do not want a side altar. We do not want the right to enter with our banner into an amphitheatre where everything is permitted. No! We want this Mass for ourselves and for everyone. We do not want a privilege. It is a right for us and for all souls, without distinction. It is through this that the Society of Saint Pius X continues and will continue to be a work of the Church. Because it has in view the good of the Church; it does not seek any particular privilege. God will choose the moment, the manner, the gradualness, the circumstances. But as far as it depends on us, we want this Mass now, without conditions and for everyone."

"The life of the Church and of redeemed souls is one, of the very unity of the cross, of redemption. There is only one Christ, one cross through which we can worship God and be sanctified. And it is therefore this same unity that we find in the Mass, in this application of redemption to the life of the Church, to the life of souls. Since there is only one redemption, and since it is perfect, there is only one way to perpetuate this redemption, to actualise it in time in order to apply it to souls: there is only one Catholic Mass. There are not two."

"Note here a problem: unity is achieved in the Faith. And unity cannot be achieved with an indult, a privilege that has one thing in view for some and its opposite for others. For some, the priests and faithful who want to keep the Tridentine Mass, it is a means of preserving Tradition, but for the Roman authorities – they now admit it openly – it is a means of gradually and completely bringing them over to the “conciliar Church”, to the way of thinking proper to the Church of today. All this has been established and promised in the light of the protocol signed on 5 May 1988 by Cardinal Ratzinger and Mgr. Lefebvre. Let us return to the wisdom of Monsignor Lefebvre."

"The act of Monsignor Lefebvre in 1988 – like the entire history of the Society of Saint Pius X – is an act of fidelity to the Church; it is an act of fidelity to the Pope, to the hierarchy, to souls. Regardless of what the Roman authorities may say or not say, think or not think."

"Tradition is a whole, because Faith is a whole. And in the current situation more than ever, the need for an absolutely free profession of Faith is evident. The true freedom of the children of God is first and foremost the freedom to profess their Faith."

"(After death of bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais) But obviously, Providence is speaking to us through this event. It is very clear that his death raises the question of the continuance of the work of the Society, which now has only two bishops, and whose mission for souls appears ever more necessary, in the time of terrible confusion that the Church is living through today. [...] When the time comes, we will know how to take up our responsibilities, in conscience."

"Pope Francis has a very precise overall vision of contemporary society, of the Church today and, ultimately, of all history. He seems to me to be affected by a kind of hyperrealism that claims to be “pastoral”. According to him, the Church must surrender to the evidence: it is impossible for her to continue preaching a moral doctrine such as the one she has preached until now. It must decide to capitulate to the demands of modern man and, as a result, rethink its motherhood. Of course, the Church must always be a mother, but instead of being so by transmitting life and educating its children, it will be so to the extent that it knows how to accept them as they are, listen to them, understand them and accompany them...These concerns, which are not bad in themselves, must be understood here in a new and very particular sense: the Church can no longer impose itself, and consequently must no longer do so. It is passive and adapts. Ecclesial life, as it can be lived today, conditions and determines the very mission of the Church, even its raison d'être. For example, since it can no longer demand the same conditions as in the past for access to the Holy Eucharist, given that modern man sees this as intolerable intolerance, the only realistic and authentically Christian reaction, in this logic, is to adapt to this situation and redefine its own requirements. Thus, inevitably, morality changes: eternal laws are subjected to an evolution made necessary by historical circumstances and by the imperatives of a false and misunderstood charity."

"Do not capitulate before this world, but recapitulate everything in Christ [instaurare omnia in Christo]."

"First of all, it seems clear to me that with the beatifications and canonisations of all recent popes since Pope John XXIII, there has been an attempt to ‘canonise’ the Council, the new conception of the Church and Christian life that the Council established and that all recent popes have promoted. This is an unprecedented phenomenon in the history of the Church. Thus, the post-Tridentine Church never thought of canonising without distinction all the popes from Pope Paul III to Pope Sixtus V. It canonised St. Pope Pius V not only because of his links with the Council of Trent or with its implementation, but because of his personal holiness, proposed as a model for the whole Church and placed at the service of the Church as Pope. The phenomenon we are currently witnessing is more reminiscent of the renaming of main squares and avenues following a revolution or a change of regime."

"(On the publication Mater Populi Fidelis) To deny the title of Co-Redemptrix is tantamount to dethroning the Most Blessed Virgin. Such a thing wounds the Catholic soul in what is dearest to it."

"[Did you imagine you would become Superior General of the FSSPX?] A few months before the 2018 General Chapter, I had obviously heard some rumours. Before that, I must say, I had never thought about it. I particularly remember the joy of working for three years in Asia, in Singapore. Travelling a lot in Asia, I remember wanting to stay in those countries for the rest of my life. I remember very well once visiting a cemetery with all the graves of missionaries. It was a Christian cemetery in a Muslim country. When I saw those missionaries' graves, I remember very well the desire to spend my life in those countries until the end. To one day be buried there too, far from my homeland. Then the Lord changed the cards on the table."

"Perhaps we forget too often that the Church is fundamentally divine, despite the fact that she is incarnated in men and in the history of men. One day, a pope, against all expectations and against all human calculations, will take things in hand and all that needs to be corrected, will be corrected, because the Church is divine and Our Blessed Lord will never abandon her."

"Il vero amore è come una finestra illuminata in una notte buia. Il vero amore è una quiete accesa."

"Chiuso fra cose mortali (Anche il cielo stellato finirà) Perché bramo Dio?"

"Di queste case non è rimasto che qualche brandello di muro Di tanti che mi corrispondevano non è rimasto neppure tanto Ma nel cuore nessuna croce manca È il mio cuore il paese più straziato."

"Still, the lure of Ferrari was always very real. "When I first went there," Stefan Johansson said, "and saw Mr. Ferrari, I was as nervous as if I'd been meeting royalty. Even if I don't get the drive, I thought at least one of my dreams has been fulfilled." He had that effect on people, this immaculately dressed old man with the ever-present sunglasses. At Ferrari press conferences, we always felt like schoolboys again, waiting for Morning Assembly, and it saddens me deeply to realize we shall not do it again. Racing people across the world will be feeling as I do, now that the greatest of their gods is gone."

"Ferrari's love of his cars was an abstract thing. For the actual machinery there was no sentiment whatsoever. Millionaires across the world may devote themselves to collecting Ferraris, but the Old Man hadn't a sliver of interest in what he saw as museum pieces. The future was the thing, and the cars were routinely broken up once their useful purpose had been served. The classic shark-nose cars dominated the 1961 season, for example, but not a single example survives. At any given time, however, his passion for the current cars was the major force in his life."

"Competition among Ferrari drivers was always encouraged. The Ingegnere- he hated being called Commendatore- especially relished chargers in the red cars. Recrimination was always on the cards for a man who settled for a safe second, never for one who had destroyed a car trying to be first."

"My heart has always beat a little faster for Ferraris, and there is no distinction in that. Captivation by them is almost irresistible. All that charisma, magic, call it what you will, has plundered the emotions of racing fans as no other cars ever have, or ever will. Paint a race car red, and already you are halfway there. But the rest is less easy to pin down, a hodgepodge of remembered sights and sounds; black on yellow Prancing Horse sheilds on the cockpits of Ascari, Hawthorn, Lauda, Berger; exposed gear lever gates, "PROVA MO" stencil marks. And the mystique, of course, began with the enigma from whom the cars took their name. A man of contradictions, on occasion chillingly ruthless, yet capable of surprising sentimentality."

"Now, finally, the news is confirmed, the rumors fact. Enzo Ferrari died the evening of August 14, and while that may be trite, it is also true that an era ushers away with him. He was the first, and also the last, of the great autocrats of auto racing. Red cars will continue to be built in the little town near Modena, but other hands, perhaps susceptible to influences beyond a pure love of racing cars, will be in control. For that Ferrari undoubtedly had. Thirty and 40 years ago he began producing road cars, disliking intensely that the majority were ordered by rich dilettantes, people attracted by the kudos of the name, probable incapable of driving a Ferrari properly. There was no Fiat money there in those days, and the road cars were seen as an evil necessary to pay for the racing program. It was an attitude that persisted to the end of the old man's life."

"One day in Modena I was entering a restaurant when I recognized Ferrari sitting at one of the tables. As I passed I tried to greet him, but he turned his head away and pretended to be talking to the person next to him. He was ignoring me! I used to have contact with Adolfo and Omer Orsi of Maserati, Renzo Rivolta of ISO, even Alejandro de Tomaso. But Ferrari never spoke to me again. He was a great man, I admit, but it was so very easy to upset him."

"Among musicians, I had a true friend, Maestro Cantelli. He was a young man of particularly noble sentiments."

"I had deluded myself - as fathers often do - that our attentions would help [Dino] to regain his health. I had convinced myself that [Dino] was like one of my cars, and so I made a table of the calorific values of the various food he had to eat - types of food that would not harm his kidneys - and I kept an up-to-date daily record of his albumins, of the specific gravity of his urine, the level of urea in his blood, of his diuresis, etc., so I would have an indication of the process of the disease. The sad truth was quite different: my son was gradually wasting away with progressive muscular dystrophy. He was dying of that terrible disease which no one has ever been able to understand or cure, and against which there is no defense, aside from genetic prophylaxis (i.e. a medication or a treatment designed and used to prevent a disease from occurring)."

"His death has deprived us of a great champion - one that I loved very much. My past is scarred with grief; parents, brother, son. My life is full of sad memories. I look back and see the faces of my loved ones, and among them I see him."

"They are cars which the sporting client can use on the road during the week and race on Sundays."

"Il secondo è il primo dei perdenti. (The runner-up is the first of losers.)"

"When we speak of stripping, we speak of our God. It is a biblical perspective, spelled out in the letter to the Philippians which says God stripped himself. When we speak of this, we speak of the core of our faith which St. Francis wanted to express and imitate."

"People come from all over the world to visit the famous excavations of Pompei, people of different faiths, people of no faith. And this is an opportunity for interreligious dialogue and missionary work. Precisely for this reason the Basilica's facade is a monument to universal peace and it is here that the Holy Father will pray for the salvation of the world."

"He represents a model of strength, alien to any form of compromise, aware that, in order to remain in Jesus' love, it is necessary to live the Gospel in a concrete way, even at the cost of going against the tide."

"He rode around on a broken bicycle, never talked about himself, and when I wanted to buy him an extra pair of shoes, he would reply, “What do I need them for?” [...] [About poor people] He knew them by name, he says, and brought them sleeping bags, blankets, clothes, and hot meals."

"This boy from Milan, who chose Assisi as his favorite place, understood, also following in the footsteps of St. Francis, that God must be at the center of everything"

"Acutis expressed a traditional form of Catholicism and was a staunch believer in transubstantiation. He recognized that many—even among Catholics—do not accept this doctrine and regard the Eucharist as merely symbolic. To counter this skepticism, he dedicated time to documenting miracles related to transubstantiation and sharing them through his blog. …I am unsure if the crowds of young people visiting his grave or who went to Rome for his (later postponed) share his belief in transubstantiation. Nevertheless, they find Acutis more intriguing and engaging than his liberal Catholic or secular critics."

"Carlo strove to document the feat Of God’s disclosures visibly surprising Men capable of honest sympathizing."

"You know, to live close to someone like Carlo means to not remain neutral in your own faith. For me, Carlo brought me closer to God. He would ask questions that I would not know the answer to, especially in my own lack of catechism. So I turned to learning more about my faith, and this was because of Carlo. Many other people would witness to this, as well: people who converted because of his example, or his conversations. He really lived what he preached, a witness."

"Everyone is born original, but many die as photocopies."