Pino Puglisi

"How can we talk about Christ? We must try to present the figure of Christ as someone we love, in the hope that people will listen to us."

"It is very difficult to die for a friend, but dying for enemies is even more difficult. Christ, however, died for us when we were still his enemies. God always remains close to us; it is the constancy of love to the extreme limit, indeed without limits. This is the reason for our joy. (homily of 14 September 1993)"

"It is important to talk about the mafia, especially in schools, in order to combat the mafia mentality, which is any ideology willing to sell out human dignity for money."

"Be a witness, especially for those who harbor anger toward a society they see as hostile. The witness must instill hope in them by helping them understand that life is valuable when it is given freely."

"The first duty in Brancaccio is to roll up our sleeves. And the first targets are children and adolescents: with them, we still have time, educational measures can be effective... But even at that age it is not easy, because many children are forced to work or steal. And many girls are forced to do worse, because there are also cases of child prostitution in the neighborhood."

"The Church has already excommunicated those who have committed atrocious crimes, such as the so-called men of honor. I can only add that murderers, those who live and feed on violence, have lost their human dignity. They are less than men; they degrade themselves, through their choices, to the rank of animals. (homily of 25 July 1993)"

"(Last words) I was expecting that."

"In the parish, all pastoral care should be guided by the vocational line together with the missionary line: “all called, all sent.”"

"Holocaust means burning one's entire existence on the altar of the cross."

"Twenty, sixty, a hundred years... life. What good is it if we go in the wrong direction? What matters is encountering Christ, living like him, proclaiming his saving Love. Bringing hope and not forgetting that all of us, each in our own place, even at personal cost, are builders of a new world."

"You have a family. I have no one. I have no wife or children, and even if they kill me, I don't care."

"When a person's heart surrenders to God, when they say yes to Him, then the Kingdom comes, then God reigns."

"God loves us, but always through someone else."

"Those who think too much before taking a step will spend their whole life standing on one foot."

"We must give and ask our brother for whatever is necessary to help him."

"Each of us feels within ourselves a particular inclination, a charisma, a vocation, a project that makes each person unique and unrepeatable: journalist, teacher, priest, student, father, volunteer... This calling is the sign of the Holy Spirit within us. Only listening to this voice can give meaning to our lives. (p. 294)"

"Love for God purifies and liberates. This does not mean that we become depersonalized, but rather that our personality is exalted and enhanced, that is, our natural faculties and our intelligence are given new potential. Our will is given new light. (p. 512)"

"Don Puglisi was proclaimed blessed on May 25, 2013. He who did not like celebrations, solemnities, or official rites, is consigned to history as the first martyr of the Church killed by the mafia in odium fidei."

"On September 15, Don Pino Puglisi, parish priest of the church of San Gaetano in Brancaccio, was killed with a single gunshot to the back of the head. With his tireless pastoral, educational, and social work, the priest had become a thorn in the side of the local mafia."

"A man, Don Pino [Puglisi], fighting against non-men, mafiosi, and hitmen in the neighborhood to save children and young people from a fate of violence, illegality, poverty, ignorance, and incivility."