Roman Catholic Archbishops

"It’s important for us to think both about living healthy lives and promoting fraternity. Peace and sports can go together because sports teach us to be united. In his message to the world before the World Cup, Pope Francis said nobody should be alone in sports or in life. On a bigger scale, for our world to be a better place, countries also need to be united."

"There will never be peace and justice until we know justice and peace in our hearts."

"I would tell Catholics in the West and in the world: Show them your fraternal attention and pray to God for their intentions; finally, contact and bond with them as much as possible."

"Communication has so often been misused to foster divisions, intolerance, and hatred on our continent, besides spreading a negative image of Africa both within the continent and outside. This communication initiative aims at enhancing a true image and appreciation of the Church in Africa and the best way of realizing this is by engaging Africans in telling their stories."

"We celebrate the great work done by missionaries who came to Tanzania at Bagamoyo in 1868. They installed the Holy Cross, a Symbol of redemption from slavery, a symbol of faith to us."

"وقال رئيس أساقفة طهران للاتين الكاردينال دومينيك ماتيو عبر "آسي مينا": "لتتوقف الأسلحة، ولتَعِش القلوب بسلامٍ وعدالةٍ وطمأنينة، وفق ما يريد اللهلأبنائه". (Let the weapons stop, and let hearts live in peace, justice and tranquility, as God wants for his children.)"

"It is time to face conflicts with courage and transparency. Only through authentic encounter with the other can the spark of fraternity emerge in our common home, which God, made love, has entrusted to us. by walking together, despite our differences, we can be true witnesses of peace. Let us not limit ourselves to dreaming about it: let us build it with concrete actions of reconciliation and unity."

"If we were truly Christians, we would not be where we are. How deep is our faith in reality? Numbers are a good thing, but not the most important. If we profess the faith, but the next day set upon our neighbor, and if we take no interest in other people's lives—then we are not fully living our faith."

"We take advantage of this grace that the Lord offers us to correct the failures of our national life. Even if the churches are full of faithful, it is certain that faith is not yet well rooted. The deepening of the faith is insufficient."

"Archbishop Ukpo was a self-sacrificing shepherd, a caring father, a mentor, a wise counsellor, a generous benefactor, a passionate crusader of human rights, a peace maker and a white head patriarch who stood out as a legendary figure."

"Our light must shine in all the places of sin, corruption, violence, destruction of human life and the environment. The victory has already been won but we must be brave in our mission of transforming the darkness into light."

"The proclamation of the Word is central to the faith life of the people in the Caribbean, a region where people are described as "religious" and Bible-reading. Because the people of the Caribbean place much emphasis on the proclamation of the Word, they have great expectations of the preacher... Given this tendency to favour the proclaimed word, it can be said that shepherds who do not feed the sheep create the conditions for someone else to feed them."

"You may have your own wisdom but that wisdom is nothing compared to the wisdom of God who appointed you as the King over his people therefore you need to call on him before you take any decision that affect the people."

"Reconciliation brings about the personal healing of survivors, the reparation of past injustices, the building or rebuilding of non-violent relationships between individuals and communities, and the acceptance by the parties to a conflict of a common vision and understanding of the past. In practice such all-encompassing reconciliation is not easy to realize. The experience of a brutal past makes the search for peaceful coexistence a delicate and intricate operation."

"I see a rosy future with regard to evangelisation in Calabar archdiocese, in fact vocations are flourishing and our local Catholic community is vivacious and active. Interreligious relations are not a problem. There is a small community of Muslims in Calabar with whom we have a good understanding. At the level of ecumenism, we have a large Pentecostal community with which we have dialogue, it is not always easy but we persevere."

"We want parents and teachers to regularly have conversations with young men and women about God's plan for their lives. These should be ordinary conversations; otherwise, when the topic of vocations comes up, it seems like something arcane, unfamiliar, or mysterious."

"It concerns not only the Catholic Church but all believing citizens (and even non-believers), adhering to any religious denomination present in the United States, because this governmental action could make it clear that, with the pretext of the implementation of legislation of social and health interest, it can act at any moment against the religious liberty of any citizen."

"We should not believe so much in cultures and forget about God’s role in our lives. We should always keep in mind that all good relationships and families are built on principles of love and trustworthiness."

"It also permitted me to understand the vicious character of money, the inhuman character of the power of money that renders man practically useless for society and for himself. And I think that the experience that I have lived is an experience that comforts me in our struggle to make the life of man more human, more beautiful and rich. I think that we can win this fight, but not alone. We can win it together, in unity."

"We are in a Covid war I want to plead, I want to beg with Kenyans that we should not dance with death."

"It looks like our children know only one thing – gamble and you will succeed. How I wish gambling were taxed double, triple, five times, ten times – because that is not the way of winning. That is not the way of success. Success is sweat, it is work, it is skills, it is reward."

"It is obvious that wise, strong and prophetic moral leadership is needed in Papua New Guinea in order to bring hope to a people that has lost its way in many areas of life. Parish priests, especially indigenous Papua New Guinea priests, motivated by a genuine and humble love for their flock, true and dedicated pastoral charity, should provide such leadership for the people entrusted to them by their bishop."

"Many of the Dioceses of Papua have been gifted with an old evangelization: the Christian population has grown and has received an excellent education. Today, in the new social and cultural context, opportunities to transmit the faith have decreased and new roads and new ways to bring the Gospel to children, youth and families are needed."

"The people who have devoted their money and blood to the charitable work of colonization, in turn, have the right, in case of need, to count on the support of the natives in defending the motherland, and to respond to that call, the colonial subjects do nothing but protect the material and cultural civilization, which they share with their patrons and educators. Which is their duty."

"In spite of the mistakes and crimes that mark its origin, colonization has in the end brought more than disadvantages to the subjugated peoples. It has banned Canibalism, slavery, human sacrifice and the tyranny of barbarian potentates, a relative prosperity has replaced the horrible misery in which bodies withered and souls degenerate. No doubt one generation had to pay dearly for the institution of the foreign guardianship; but a longer series of generations have been able to reap the benefits of the renewed policies that have come into effect as a result."

"The creator who distributed the goods of the earth among the regions and peoples of the earth, has therefore made them no less in the service of all mankind. The plan of providence is to be worshiped, and the discerning human groups have no right to assume that the benefits and riches offered by the regions inhabited by them are solely for themselves. A unified and fruitful division of labor must therefore be practiced between the nations, making the resources of each region available to all members of humanity. The divine plan is disregarded, humanity is robbed of its future, when, through inability to carelessness or indolence, the backward peoples fail to exploit the treasures of their soil. As long as nobody has been set up with the task of remedying this disorder, every state, provided it has the will and means, has the right to assume this task and, if necessary, to deprive the native governments of the rights which it appears to have made common. welfare of all peoples."

"There must be a line, an order, to intimidate the church, to lower its discourse, to be silent. The government's retaliation against the declarations of the Conference is intimidation. We locate the root of such a tough crisis in the application of a failed political system they called 21st century socialism."

"They see us as an enemy. They accuse us of being ideological, but all we do is to describe the situation of Venezuela as it is. We don't invent. We only report what is happening. Such a dramatic situation hadn’t occurred in years: we are without food and without medicine. To put it loud and clear: starving the population is part of a specific strategy, as in many parts of the world. It's the only way they have to keep the people at bay."

"Every Brazilian needs to see the many riches that exist in our differences. It is essential to recognize, above all, that each person is similar, a brother, a sister. When the dignity of human life is recognized, that all are sons and daughters of God, fidelity to the ethical principles that guarantee conviviality is strengthened."

"The centre of all our efforts in caring for the sick must be the person himself or herself. Our attention must be directed to each person at this particular moment of their journey of life. In our modern world, and even within our health system, we face the danger of depersonalisation. Too easily, we can focus on procedures and techniques, on the task at hand and the hoped-for outcome. The challenge is to remain focused on the particular person before us, on their physical well-being and also on their emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. It is their particular fears and hopes, struggles and frailties that we are called to receive and to carry with them."

"The church does not encourage clashes but harmony, based on a principle that must guide the world going forward, as there is no other possible way. This principle is that of solidarity."

"We are surrounded by darkness and are afraid to venture out. Unless we do, however, we will not find God, because it is only by leaving what is safe and comfortable to pierce the darkness that we will find the light of God. This is a fitting metaphor for the spiritual pilgrimage that all of us have to make out of our self-contained comfort zone into the wide world of God and God’s people in the Catholic Church."

"I'm a sinner, too. I don't have all the perfect answers. My goal is not to carry out Chuck Thompson’s vision or Chuck Thompson’s teachings. I’ve been entrusted with the care of souls in central and southern Indiana, and I’ve been entrusted to do that, and to use as my markers the teachings of the Church."

"Because of our baptism, we're called to do our best to help our brothers and sisters. Love of God, love of neighbor summarizes scripture according to the Lord Jesus. And our donation may seem insignificant with the great needs that are present around the world. But a raindrop is insignificant... you put enough together and it makes a mighty river. And so if everyone would just do what they can and we put them into the hands of the Lord and let the Lord make a difference because of our efforts."

"I think that the need is, above all, for systematic and solid catechesis for the people, that is, to preach the Gospel, as St. Paul said, in season and out of season, to instruct the people regarding the importance of the family and the value of the family, regarding the nature of Christian morality that Our Lord Jesus Christ left to us and really, to form their consciences from childhood."

"We've been saying for decades and decades that faith is at home and in the parish, and now it's literally at home, this sort of language has been part of that church for a long time, but now it's actually what it is."

"Peter Kibe and his 187 companions send us Christians, and also non-Christians, a message containing many things, such as following: persistence in the faith in God, who alone can save the humanity; keeping the liberty of religion which is one of fundamental human rights; non-violence in front of those who persecute and attack with violence is necessary for making peace. We expect that the Beatification for the Christians of Japan will be an occasion for rediscovering the importance of the faith and of bearing testimony to the love of God manifested through Jesus Christ and the Martyrs."

"We know that a world without nuclear weapons does not automatically make for peace. We have to make many efforts toward renewal, to recreate the human spirit by insisting on the importance of the practice of love taught and showed by Jesus Christ."

"Peace first of all, is a question of one's soul. However, peace is about our faith in God and interpersonal relationships of trust and forgiveness that do not discriminate and hate anybody. Peace is about the necessary conditions that guarantee life in society (health, education, security) and the environment, our common home."

"Perhaps because of Japan's mentality and culture, our faithful are reluctant to talking about their Christian faith to others. Today we need a more explicit Gospel proclamation."

"The world in which we live is dominated by a shallow secular vision of the human person, and of the purpose of life, a vision which is contrary to divine revelation, to reason, and to the profound heritage of Christian faith. It is disappointing when Catholic trustees allow that secular vision to replace the fullness of faith articulated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We are called to be guided by the Holy Spirit, not by the deceptive spirit of the age."

"You have to differentiate between the papacy as an institution and the person of the incumbent. It certainly was a revolutionary step… And it’s only now that we see the importance and huge opportunities that have been opened up by this step. As I have said before, it was not easy for me personally, but the question is not whether it’s easy but rather that I have to accept and come to terms with this decision. And in this respect also I’m at peace with myself."

"Many cardinals today would sympathize with Angelo Scola as Pope."

"Seeing in 2013 the warm greeting of Gustavo Raffi, Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Italy, I became certain that, more than a welcome to Bergoglio, it was a goodbye for Pope Ratzinger!"

"[About the motu proprio Traditionis custodes] It brokes Pope Benedict’s heart."

"our Lord Jesus Christ who alone is our Savior is not at the root and center of synodality."

"Cardinal Burke emphasized the real importance of the Catechism published in 1912: it is not simply a religious and historical aid to be celebrated, and urged by the public, he stated that the Pius X remains to this day a firm and indispensable point of reference."

"Nothing has changed in the Islamic agenda from prior times in which our ancestors in the faith have had to fight to save Christianity. And why? Because they saw that Islam was attacking sacred truths, including the sacred places of our redemption. To say that we worship the same God as stated in Nostra Aetate, which is not a dogmatic document, I think is highly questionable … How can the God that we know, a God fundamentally of love, St. John says `God is love,’ be the same God that commands and demands of Muslims to slaughter infidels and to establish their rule by violence."

"The Remnant Interview of Cardinal Raymond Burke, Corrispondenza Romana (January 13, 2017)"

"(On the Amoris Laetitia) So certainly, without the clarification of these questions, there is a potential of scandal. With regard to the question of heresy, one has to be very attentive to material heresy and to formal heresy. In other words, material heresy: are there actual statements in the text which are materially heretical? Are they contradictory to the Catholic Faith? Formal heresy: did the person—namely the person of the pope who wrote the document—intend to proclaim heretical teachings? And the last thing, I don’t believe myself at all. And I think with regard to the first question, the language and so forth is confusing and it’s difficult to say that these confusing statements are materially heretical. But they need to be clarified, and to refuse to clarify them could lead people into error, into radical thinking with regard to some very serious questions."