Roman Catholic Archbishops

"I think that every missionary has great satisfaction when he sees that the local community in which he serves is a living church, that it is growing, there are new members, there are conversions, that these people come, look for the Church and for contact with God. When they engage in the life of the parish community, seeing in the faith a sign of hope and a reference to a future life. Undoubtedly, the missionary's joy is the fact that the Gospel permeates the everyday life of the community."

"I am thankful for the lights and shadows, which I encountered as bishop of Baguio. They were learning experiences for me and I treasure them. I bring them to my new assignment."

"Effective partnership is highly commendable. As a confederation, we share common values and principals, respect the dignity of human beings, believe in solidarity and sharing, are dedicated to service and are convinced that subsidiarity is the key to harmonious cooperation between partners."

"People who turn to withchdoctors lose their money and then complain about being poor instead of using such money to improve their living conditions."

"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 Scottish bishops can tell you that the vast majority of the Catholic people, many other Christians, and indeed people of other faiths respond positively and rejoice to hear religious and moral truth expounded clearly and simply and openly. Even in these highly secularised times, the thirst for authentic religion still asserts itself."

"What a good way to start this new year, 2017, by honoring the Virgin Mary through her Altagracia image. She protects our faith, she protects our hope... We must always maintain a dialogue with God, and say "yes" to him, as Mary did, with humility."

"For the sake of the happiness of every child, their fathers and mothers, and for the sake of the happiness of all people in the Motherland, we pray that every person in it has enough spirit to speak well and enough intelligence to keep silent."

"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"."

"Too many people die in the country and God's righteousness will come true at all costs."

"Everyone has access to the congregation. Anyone who is baptized has a right to turn to the Holy See, and we make no distinction between left and right, big or small. It is important that every Christian know there is an authority to whom he can turn, obviously, we must discern what we hear."

"One of the areas in which we can serve is that of the youth ministry. In our post civil war setting in Liberia, the youth are vulnerable. They are in need of formation. They are in need of moral direction and guidance. In the area of Education the Church in Liberia has for most part, offered a purely academic education. But during the civil war, she had to move to another level in order to serve the needs of youth."

"Be always open to the voice of God, and continue to see opportunities. Firstly, you must be a disciple of Jesus. You can't be a priest or bishop without being a disciple of Jesus. Then God will speak to you."

"In married life the capacity to love is concentrated in one person who is chosen forever, but in the option for celibacy the capacity to love is broadened and opened to many recipients, especially to those who are not loved. So being celibate does not imply loving less, but loving more. One renounces an exclusive love in order to live an inclusive love capable of embracing everyone."

"My stay and prayer will be moved to the protest venue from the archbishop's house if required. Fishermen and the Christian community believe Christ and the cross as everything in their lives. We know Christ died at the age of 33. His death brought liberation for humanity. We fight for justice trusting in Christ. We have nothing to lose."

"It will evoke the terror of a war in which human dignity was scorned and lives destroyed in the name of a murderous ideology. From the attitude of those who protected others, however, we can also find a summons to our contemporary world, where refugees still face persecution and need us to show empathy within our possibilities"

"We can believe in the transforming action of community prayer: by this we confess and worship the living God. However, can we group together one praying America? It is difficult for us to hope due to: poverty, injustice, divisions and marginalization, communication deceit and oppression. It would be best to create forms of communication and foster exchange which could help us to grow together and keep a constant dialogue."

"The missionary spirit introduced by the missioners in this region must be maintained. This is the Catholic mission."

"Cura, labor, studium, sumpti pro munere honores, Ite, aliam posthac sollicitate animam. Me deus a uobis procul euocat. Ilicet actis Rebus terrenis, hospita terra uale. Corpus, auara, tamen sollemnibus excipe saxis. Nanque animam celo reddimus, ossa tibi."

"Save me, Lord! thou King Eternal! From those dark domains infernal, Where is weeping, where is wailing; Where all prayers are unavailing; Where each soul doth self-inherit Proof of its own damned demerit;— Tortures reaping, ever crying, From the worm that is undying; Where no hope can come to sever Life from death, in hell for ever!Me to Zion take in pity! David's Zion, tranquil city! Built by God, of light; its portal Cross of Christ, the wood immortal: Key that locks, the tongue of Peter; Tuned, the songs of gods not sweeter: Walled, heaven-high, the scaleless story, Guarded by the King of Glory?In this city, light eternal Reigns for ever—peace superna; Odors flow in such completeness, Heaven is filled with songs of sweetness;There the soul knows no corruption, Frailty none, nor interruption; None too little, none dilated— All in Christ are consummated.Heavenly city! glorious city! Built upon the rock of pity! City, in whose gates are gathered All I long for, all I fathered! Now I greet thee, thee I sigh for, Whose possession I would die for!With what warm congratulations Meet in thee the joyful nations! How delighted stand they gazing At the walls, with glory blazing— Hyacinth and chalcedony— Heaven's own wealth their patrimony!In this city's streets, for greeting, Clouds of blessed souls are meeting— Singing songs, such as the pious Moses sang for rapt Elias!"

"We Bishops also need formation. We studied for the priesthood in the seminary and we had teachers who accompanied our journey of formation. When we are appointed Bishops our task becomes more difficult, there is more responsibility, there are more problems."

"I ask ACN to do everything in its power to enable the Biblia Sagrada Africana to be brought to Mozambique. I personally find this project very opportune, as it will allow us to have access to the Word of God, which we need very much, especially in the reflections and catechesis that we usually carry out in the 47 parishes of the Archdiocese of Maputo."

"Peace brought to us by Christ is the attitude of all those who practice the laws of justice and love, established by God for harmony in creation. The Church must make an appeal to Africa, to have a pure conscience to work honestly towards the common good. The Church must also be the voice of those who have no say, to courageously denounce all those plans that make men slaves. We must make an effort to create internal and external peace and maintain it, fruit of victory and self-discipline."

"Thankfully there is no deep lying hatred among the people but the problem is that many former soldiers, used to earning their living by fighting, have turned into bandits and they harass the people. In this context the Church continues her work of evangelisation and human promotion, aware that hearts and minds cannot be changed immediately but only with patience and time."

"I think people are looking for something, as they always have, to hold to something that has roots, that has tradition, that has meaning, that has depth. And I think the Catholic Church continues to offer that despite her imperfections."

"The Church has adapted herself to local cultures whenever possible in order to evangelize people more effectively. Today we are asking that the Church do in Asia what she did in Europe, to wit, allow the process of inculturation to take place with more freedom on the part of the Local Churches. Guidelines will have to be drawn up, true, to forestall aberrations; but her rich history in handling heresies and schisms should stand her well in the issuance of those guidelines and safeguards."

"We need to find a way that people who die are accompanied, but we’re also thinking of the trauma of someone who not only loses a loved one but wasn’t able to be close to them, for reasons of health precautions, but wasn’t able to accompany them after death. It's as if they died almost invisible. The pain in families is enormous, and as the Church we need to respond in whatever way we can."

"They were very sensitive and keen in looking to the future of the Irian Jaya Church with its specific local context. They deserve tributes and honors for the fruits produced by the school. In the era of globalization and information. Church personnel -- priests, lay and Religious -- have to have academic skills as well as piety."

"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."

"The family is the first place where one learns to love, where we experience and practice mutual love. Blessed are those parents who teach their children respect and love for others, who avoid hatred and educate them to show love and care for others."

"It will be our duty to promote interfaith peace and harmony so that reconciliation prevails in Pakistan and the world. We have to educate young people to be ambassadors of peace."

"Only if we are authentically Christians again, can we walk the path of dialogue, otherwise we cannot communicate adequately with Islam."

"Jesus' attitude to women was contrary to the customs of his people many of which are similar to our traditions. The Gospel tell us that Jesus showed respect, love and acceptance towards the women he encountered. And the women were the ones who were faithful to him even under the cross and the first to be messengers of the Resurrection. The fact that from the beginning of his public life, Jesus was followed by a group of women is a challenge for our attitude to women in the Church-Family-of-God. We must encourage and help women to take their proper place in Church and in society. We must help girls to grow up as women free of any inferiority complex."

"There are different levels of dialogue. We have the "natural" dialogue among the neighborhood, among people living in the same areas. Then we have the somewhat distorted dialogue at the national level in which the state often uses religions as a means to impose itself. Since the state does not have a lot of authority over the populations while religious leaders have a strong ascendancy over their followers. So the state pressures religious leaders, Muslim and Christian, to achieve its goals. That is why we have made sure that interfaith dialogue is out of the reach of the state, which tries to influence it to its advantage."

"Communion is manifested in solidarity, the living expression of the love of God and of one's neighbor, which must be expressed in service to everyone, in every situation and everywhere, organizing (political), producing, managing and exchanging goods (economic) and the creation of authentic values (culture). Active evangelization in this spirit produces the fruits of holiness, a vocation to which we are all called by the merciful love of God."

"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."

"Relations between Churches differ from one Asian country to another, and an appropriate form of ecumenical association in one country might not be the answer in others. What we need is, together with Christians of other Churches, to open ourselves anew to the movement and guidance of the Spirit."

"We may have made a mistake concerning our attitude to nature or the environment. Genesis says that we should have control over every creature. But we should have control according to the will of God. But we are not God."

"Catholics from other countries share their strong Catholic traditions and they are a channel of evangelisation. They represent hope for our local Church also because they have numerous children. Moreover many Catholic immigrant women marry Japanese husband, they are missionaries in the family and they bring up the children in the Catholic faith. Immigration is an important phenomenon in Japanese society, it is a challenge and an opportunity for evangelisation."

"In fact, Africa is afraid and lives in fear. Jealously keeping her discoveries about the world and nature, she naturally falls into mistrust, suspicion, a self-defensive attitude, aggressiveness, charlatanism, divination, occultism and syncretism, so many facets that contribute to obstructing the search for the true God during the millennia. So much is expected on this continent, mother of us all, the even more radiant luster of the light of the crucified and risen Christ!"

"The cross is the single greatest demonstration of love ever seen. Help them to understand it. Repeatedly call their attention to it. Help them to understand God doesn't simply tell us He loves us; He shows us."

"It is very important for the bishop to directly serve the people, without being removed two or three steps."

"The only alternative for a terminally ill person and their dignity is palliative care, not euthanasia, which from the perspective of legality and false compassion, totally destroys the dignity of the patient and places medical personnel and caregivers in the difficult situation of having to betray their most genuine vocation, which is to heal and provide care."

"We oppose – as the Catechism says – any type of unjust discrimination, but in this case, when teachers are expected to witness – not only by their word but by their actions – a coherent witness to the Gospel and the teaching of the Catholic Church, this was certainly not unjust. And the Court agreed with us on this decision."

"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."

"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."

"In Jesus Christ, was revealed a God of love, who preaches and sends out love. And that love must be shown to men through the word, the sacraments and charity."

"The Christian community of the mother church in Jerusalem has always been in need from the beginning. It is therefore a duty for all Catholics in the world to sustain Christians in that Blessed Land."

"I propose that it should be stated clearly that Jesus Christ and his Gospel offer, above all, an understanding of human life in view of the free call of God to eternal life. In this way they provide an answer to the problem of death which takes from human existence its meaning, consistency and value. The remaining problems stem from this, from a pastoral point of view."

"The high demands of the episcopacy are truly fearsome, even beyond the normal standards of leadership. Thus, I propose that bishop-elects must be given sufficient opportunities to be informed, exposed, and formed prior to assuming the Episcopal office. There is a need to re-look at the practical and human needs of the bishop."