Roman Catholic Bishops

"I think one of the main reasons the Holy Father is inviting the Church to be more synodal is in view of evangelisation. Synodality and evangelisation are two sides of the same coin. I’m pretty sure that the Holy Father is passionate about helping the human person encounter Jesus, because Jesus is the reason for our lives. His message, His person is light to the world. After all, this is what the Church is called to be, a missionary Church. It’s good to remind ourselves that the theme of this Synod is ‘For a Synodal Church: communion, participation, and mission.’ The fact that mission is the last word does not mean it is the least important. I would say mission is the most important element. I think the Holy Father would like to set the world on fire by proclaiming the Gospel. Obviously, he cannot do this by himself, but he wants all the people of God to get engaged in this mission. When I say all the people of God, I’m talking about a synodal Church, because a synodal Church is a Church where all the baptised feel engaged. They share the same faith, they also share the same responsibility to help this encounter with Jesus."

"I would say that the 2021–2024 Synod was a "first" in many ways."

"Working together as a team allows the laity greater participation within the dynamics of responsibility. I would like that the three of us, and all of the staff of the Synod Secretariat, work out of the same spirit of collaboration and experience a new style of "synodal" leadership, a leadership of service that is less clerical and hierarchical, that allows participation and co-responsibility without at the same time abdicating the responsibilities entrusted to them."

"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 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."

"I have always been a believer and a practising Catholic. When I was finishing secondary school, my spiritual director asked me very delicately if I had ever considered becoming a priest. I liked the idea and said yes almost instinctively. Devoting myself to God seemed like something exciting. [...] My father and mother were strongly opposed. My sister Donata, then a twelve-year-old girl, was in favour, however, and she supported me, including financially, throughout her life."

"It's true that we mustn't and don't want to be closed to new contributions, but they have to be contributions that enrich our society, not impoverish it."

"In the Eucharist Jesus Christ nourishes us with his Body and his Blood, allowing us to share in the eternal fullness of divine life, allowing us to sit at table with Him at the Supper for which we rejoice for ever with the knowledge and love of God, communion of life with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, with the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the Saints, and with all those whom we have loved on this earth and whom Jesus saved with his Cross"

"Lifelong fidelity is possible, a love that never ends is possible, happiness is possible in marriage, which God himself created and Christ has sanctified."

"For Christians, in their 2,000 year-long history, red is the color of the blood of the martyrs, it is the color of the Holy Spirit. This is not the color red of the Marxist revolution, which was a resounding failure, nor of the nihilism of Nietzsche, which leads to nothing and to meaninglessness even though it exalts the super man"

"Enemies of the Church have found a gold mine for discrediting her, and each day they strategically dispense a few drops of this elixir which brings pleasure to demons."

"Today, too, there are young people working and studying, preparing themselves for the future with dignity and hope. The future belongs to these honorable young people and not so much to those who spend all of their vital energy these days on carousing."

"In expressing publicly our faith we are exercising a civil right that is rooted in the religious freedom of a free country. It is not some privilege that is granted by public officials. It is a right that we exercise in a civil way and as citizens."

"We don't want anyone in society to be in danger because of these criminals, but we don't think that death is the answer. Killing them because they have killed would perpetuate the cycle of violence."

"Discouragement slowly but tenaciously strangles the greatest longings of the soul. Don't let the dreams God has put in your hearts be stolen. And never lose hope of achieving a better country."

"Kenyans, let us thank God for the peace we still enjoy in many parts of this country. Let us not take this peace for granted. Let us all become agents of peace; of joy and of the resurrection."

"Forgiveness is one thing, and no one is opposed to forgiving him, but he must also realize that actions have consequences, and one of those consequences is that the people have lost trust in him. This is what the people are asking. How are they going to be governed by someone whom they can't trust?"

"Everyone came to help to water, shovel, grow the seeds of God's Word."

"When we talk about the young, it is important to support any project that enhances their development. Military training is one example because it teaches them discipline, something that we need in the country."

"If we don't need that much, don't buy that many drugs. It is not just you who wants to live. We have thousands of fellow Filipinos testing positive for Covid each day. Give them a chance to get well by making the medicines they need available when they need them."

"The world censures those who take up arms to defend their causes and calls on them to use non-violent means in voicing their grievances. But when a people chooses the non-violent path, it is all too often the case that hardly anyone pays attention. It is tragic that people have to suffer and die and the television cameras have to deliver the pictures to people’s homes everyday before the world at large admits there is a problem."

"Fundamentalism, especially the kind which appropriates itself of a religious matrix, is never acceptable. It is a stance exploited merely as a means to justify extremism or even failure of a personal life or vision of the future."

"The Catholic Croats act as a sort of "adhesive" for the Serbs and the Bosniaks. Should this adhesive disappear, then these two worlds – the Islamic and the Orthodox – will drift ever farther apart. This will give rise to even greater unrest."

"Politicians need to finally acknowledge what is happening and condemn the severe discrimination that is taking place right in the middle of Europe. This is particularly true for the Christians. I expect anyone who is serious about their faith to support the disenfranchised people of my homeland – in word and deed. Our appeals have not been heard up until this point. And there have been so many of them! Quo vadis, Europe? Quo vadis, Christianity in Europe? If we just look the other way and tolerate this kind of development on our own doorstep, how do we want to help other people understand our Christian values?"

"This really is not Our Lady from the Gospel."

"I have learned a huge amount and I think I would want to say that I think my heart was in the right place. But obviously when you are in a leadership role around issues as sensitive as this it is easy for trust to be damaged, so the question really is to assess that and to see can you recover trust and rebuild trust."

"Putting the rights of the child explicitly into the Irish Constitution is a way of signalling the rights of the child so they are no longer implicit, but this must go hand in hand with practical support for children and families under stress, particularly in this time of economic crisis. Legislation is one step, practical support is now needed."

"Cardinal Cheong always said that he wanted to be a little star in the night sky, and now he's become a big one. We too shall try to become a little star by loving our neighbour as ourselves."

"The purpose of missionary activity is not so much to "do something for others" as to "transform others into doers.""

"We all are a family under the Catholic faith."

"When I went to Rome I had a lot of fear, but I also trusted in the fact that the years I would spend in Rome would be beautiful, grace-filled years -- both because I was called to live close to the pope, and because I was called to live close to the pope in the heart of the Church, the liturgy. And I should say at the distance of 14 years that it was like that: Beautiful and very grace-filled years."

"I pay attention to everything that goes into the rite in order to really help those participating to experience God and to help those who are in a spirit of adoration."

"Nobody can educated by himself. Education is the transmission of tradition through a witness. And the educator should be a master. Should be someone with enough to authority, not to impose but propose. But if you are not convinced you are unable to propose."

"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!"

"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."

"It's bigger than the territory of Germany or Poland. The European bishops think I'm mad."

"I am not privy to the reasons I was appointed bishop and to this day it is still a mystery to me! However, I was active in the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and religious life as well as the area of communications, proclaiming the good news of the Gospel. They are two areas that I am passionate about and do all I can to support in whatever way I can."

"The Holy House of Loreto invites us to invoke Mary, so as not to lose hope in the God of life."

"The first planes, at the time, were called "flying churches." Entrusting to Our Lady of Loreto all those who boarded an aircraft was, therefore, completely natural. We are called to fly high, we are called to holiness, to the fullness of life and happiness that is the holiness offered by the Lord."

"We stand in millions against violence, we firmly believe that we cannot let a handful of individuals steal our peace. We cannot allow them to steal our streets and take our city hostage."

"Work for the construction of a more just society, where there are job opportunities for all and fair wages, to avoid the temptation to get easy money. You have to raise your voice: we must not get used to living in a climate of violence, this leads to indifference."

"Charity is only authentic when it is disinterested and is freely given, when it is not done with the desire to obtain other goals, when it is not at the service of worldly tactics or used as proselytism, to gain political or religious supporters."

"It follows that to call oneself a Catholic while challenging the Church and Her internal discipline entrusted to the bishops, is a contradiction."

"There's a need for meeting, for dialogue, for shared commitment, so that, in a world that is by now rushing towards globalization, the different religions, with their specific resources, may fulfil the expectations of promoting some truly human values."

"Surely deep down we all want to respect the reputation of others, see the best in them and not cause an unjust injury. So aim for the heavens and not the gutter."

"During these moments of extreme difficulty we will all have to adapt in some way, because there are already many who live in hardship."

"Here we can experience the "globalization of faith" and universal brotherhood."

"After the so-called Velvet Revolution Slovakia became part of the Western Civilization, and along with a lot of good things, Christians here are confronted with problems such as relativism and materialism, but I think that a lot of people look forward to meeting the Pope."

"With his heart, he sees what happens thousands of kilometers away and is invisible to most eyes. This Co-Cathedral—which was built by 200 poor stonemasons, both men and women—will allow the people to feel closer to God."

"I would like everyone to understand that the Church in this society is not a foreign element but a profoundly domestic reality that truly wants the good for each person. We hope to find agreement and a suitable response from the other side."