Cardinals

"The Church does not demand a recognition of her superiority over the State for the promotion of the personal and temporal interests of her rulers, but only for the maintenance of the truth revealed by God, which is for the true interest of the State and the Christian people. She only requires that the recognition of God as the source of every right shall not merely be speculative and theoretical, but practically and truly acted upon by the State, or at least that it shall not be positively contravened, which ever will be and ever has been injurious to the State. We must also remember the incontrovertible theological principle that Grace does not destroy Nature, that the supernatural order does not annul the natural order. The Church could not possibly exercise everywhere the functions of the civil power, just as little as the civil power could exercise the functions of the Church. The Church needs the State as the State needs the Church."

"I never thought I was ever to be taken away from Brooklyn except by death; otherwise I might have gone slower."

"Christ himself wanted this stable form of life in the Church that it might in some way make present the form of life he chose for himself, referring to it as an absolute and eschatological value; it cannot be simply and reductively considered an accessory reality, but instead truly and unquestionably one of the fundamental and constituent structures of the Church's very essence and nature."

"His proselytising zeal and the part he took in promoting the declaration of indulgence rendered Howard particularly odious to the protestant party."

"In the work of evangelisation it is necessary to keep in mind that many university students are attracted to science and technology and they have the right to be taught the fundamentals of faith so they realise there is no opposition between faith and reason."

"Comely of person, speaking seven languages, liberal, of an even disposition, unswervingly faithful to his masters, possessing great political penetration, and of an astonishing activity, Granvelle was moreover a generous and enlightened patron of arts and letters. He has been reproached with avarice; in fact he was never satiated with riches and honours, but was unskilled in the art of gaining popularity. Exclusively preoccupied with the service of his masters, he scorned to win the affection of the multitude, and was a much detested in Germany as in the Netherlands. Owing to his great influence he was held responsible for everything that was done, even when he had advised against it. Worldly and ostentatious, and more than once accused of laxity of morals, Granvelle possessed the qualities and defects of a prelate of the Renaissance, with a superiority of intellect and sense of his duties as a statesman which deserve respect. His vast correspondence is an inexhaustible source of information concerning the history of the sixteenth century."

"His violent action at Basle seems to have resulted from an earnest desire for the reform of the Church, and having made his submission to Nicholas V, he is believed to have done penance for his former disloyal and schismatical conduct. He died shortly after in the odour of sanctity. His private life had always been a penitential one."

"There is not in the history of heroism a figure more forlorn and pathetic than that of the President of the Council of Basel."

"The cardinal showed heroic courage in tending the plague-stricken. He was also a diligent promoter of the decree passed by the council in favour of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady."

"He was always a good friend of his order. He was conspicuous for his sanctity and care for the poor."

"It is sometimes supposed that St. Patrick's apostolate in Ireland was an unbroken series of peaceful triumphs, and yet it was quite the reverse. No storm of persecution was, indeed stirred up to assail the infant Church, but the saint himself was subjected to frequent trials."

"Reconciliation naturally demands the release of political prisoners mainly because no one (political party) can claim to have acted in complete innocence during the conflict. For the nation to be reconciled, everyone must feel free to come and go without fear of being molested."

"I have tried to proceed methodically and with all the clearness possible, so as to be easily understood by persons not familiar with theological studies. God grant that I may attain the end I have in view, and dissipating the doubts which beset many minds, confirm them in the truth, or lead them into the bosom of the Catholic Church!"

"Prodigy of the right hand of the Most High! To accomplish great wonders, He prefers to use abject instruments, sometimes the most unsuitable and despised by men, so that the result cannot be attributed to the creature, but to the Creator alone. Thus, in the fifteenth century, at the height of humanism, when the Christian powers themselves, instead of listening to the voice of the Supreme Shepherd and moving in unison against the Crescent that threatened the freedom of the civilised world, were engaged in subtle political rivalries among themselves. God raised up a poor son of St. Francis, who, gaunt in face, barefoot and destitute, moved half of Europe with his fiery words and led it to triumph under the walls of Belgrade. “Digitus Dei est hic”."

"The ancient crusades against the infidels should be considered from that supernatural point of view, which is precisely how the ancients viewed them. They represented the greatest effort of Christianity to prevent the brute force of the Muslims from destroying the civilisation of the Gospel. The soul of this powerful, long-lasting resistance, which was finally victorious at Lepanto and Vienna, was the Roman Papacy, which for over five centuries, sparing no sacrifice or expense, united the Catholic forces of every nation under the banner of the Cross and, directing them against the Crescent, spared Europe a great number of internal wars, ensuring its triumph over Western Asia and Islam."

"Try not to disappoint Jesus, who is and will always be our point of reference."

"A kind of heresy has arisen abroad and is spreading everywhere, which not only attacks the supernatural foundations of the Catholic Church, but also materialises in human blood the spiritual concepts of the individual, the nation and the homeland, denies humanity any other spiritual value, and thus constitutes an international danger no less than that of Bolshevism itself. It is the so-called racism."

"There is much talk everywhere about goodwill and peace in order to avoid international conflict at all costs. But does not this Nordic philosophy [racism], which has become both theosophy and politics, constitute the forge where the most deadly weapons for a future war are being forged?"

"After 16 centuries, here is another March on Rome, and here is another edict of religious peace, of that peace which was signed in the Lateran Treaty, and which, by giving Italy to God, gave God to Italy ... God also wanted to give the Duce a reward that brings his historical figure closer to the great spirits of Constantine and Augustus, surrounding Rome and the King with a new flourishing imperial laurel wreath, thanks to the work of Benito Mussolini."

"Once it was Islam that threatened Christian civilisation. Now it is Judaism, a people without a homeland, who therefore hate that of others, allied as they are with Freemasonry. Jews and Freemasons are waging a war against Catholicism and Europe that is all the more difficult and dangerous because it is so subtle. Even against this terrible danger, we must resort to the invincible weapons of prayer; and since we are not allowed to hate anyone, but are instead commanded to love everyone, even our enemies, we implore today the conversion of all these errant souls, those who have unleashed the terrible scourge of war and who alone have benefited from it: the Bolshevik Jews, Zionists, Freemasons, etc. – so that, converted all to penance, “Ecclesia ... tranquilla devotione laetetur”."

"Among us, the Catholic Church today is faced not so much with a new fascist state, since this already existed in the year of the Concordat, but with a prevailing philosophical-religious system in which, although it is not said in words, the denial of the Apostolic Creed, of the spiritual transcendence of religion, of the rights of the Christian family and of the individual is implicit. [...] Faced with an apostolic creed and a Catholic Church of divine origin, we therefore have a fascist creed and a totalitarian state which, just like the Hegelian one, claims divine attributes for itself. On the religious level, the Concordat has been vaporised. [...] Now, if the principle of non-contradiction still applies in philosophy, everyone can see that between Christianity, based on the Decalogue and the Creed of divine origin, and this new Hegelian state, totalitarian, authoritarian, sovereign source of Catholic ethics and spirituality [...] – that Roman Catholicism, of course, which pre-existed Christianity itself – there is an irreducible antinomy. Christianity is essentially supernatural and is spirit. This Hegelian state, on the other hand, is material force and is entirely political. Christianity wants to love, fear and serve God; this formula, on the other hand, instead of statolatry, usurps the rights of God and opposes him. [...] In the fascist state [...] there is a single “absolute, totalitarian, entirely sovereign” entity which leaves no room for others and yields the sceptre to no one. It is the state which penetrates the very spirits and consciences of its subjects."

"The first gift that the Pope has given us and it is one that is visible on the faces of Angolans. From there, we can find the strength to continue on our mission of announcing the Gospel with a renewed spirit, in communion with the Holy Father."

"It was but natural that in view of the extraordinary discoveries made in recent years in physics, mechanics and chemistry, the minds of men should be fascinated by new and unheard-of physical, mechanical and chemical phenomena, admitting of scientific examination, and holding out such rich and transcendent promises. Now, by imitating and even surpassing the effects of natural agents, pure spiritual substances can thus easily conceal their operation and gain access to man. They can even, on the pretence of furthering scientific progress, induce man to indulge in these unlawful practices, and thus attack him unawares. This is so much easier in an age when the study of the human soul and its faculties, and of the angelic nature and the spiritual world in general, is so greatly and universally neglected."

"The links between faith, the inherent dignity and rights of human beings, and a fair and peaceful society, were also understood by the founding fathers of the United States and these basic moral principles have shaped, over thousand of years, civilization."

"(While he was Archbishop of Capua) Since it was customary for canons and parish priests to send the Archbishop rather ostentatious gifts during the Christmas season, he eradicated this custom, prohibiting it both because it was a burden on the canons and parish priests and because the rich could give, with greater merit, to the poor the gifts they would have offered to the Archbishop, who had no need of them. He often meditated on and inculcated in others the saying of Isaiah: ‘Blessed is he who has fulfilled his duty.’ (p. 69)"

"N. was born in the year of our Lord 1542, on 4 October. He had pious parents, especially his mother, whose name was Cinzia, sister of Pope Marcellus II."

"In the second conclave [8-16 May 1605. See Autobiography, note p. 72], he was very close to being elected Pope. And when a cardinal of great authority and seriousness promised him his influence [to get him elected], he urged him to desist without thanking him. He declared that, for his part, he would not pick up even a straw from the ground to be elected Pope. He bore no ill will towards those who opposed his election; indeed, he was not at all troubled by it. He said, in fact, that the papacy could be described as a ‘most dangerous job’ or a ‘most exhausting danger’. (p. 72)"

"On the sixth day, God, with a single command, produced all the species of land animals, wild and domestic, and commanded them to multiply; and so they have done, do, and will do until the end of the world. And although no one cares to preserve certain kinds of animals, such as wolves, snakes, foxes, and the like, and everyone strives to kill them and banish them from the earth, nevertheless they are always found in great abundance, and will always be found, because it is necessary that they obey the command of the almighty Creator. Finally, on the sixth day, God, wishing to summarise all his works, made man, in whom he placed the qualities of all the elements: the life of plants, the feelings of animals, and the intellect and free will of the angels."

"I say that, as you know, the Council forbids exposing the Scriptures contrary to the common consent of the Holy Fathers; and if Your Excellency wishes to read not only the Holy Fathers, but also the modern commentaries on Genesis, on the Psalms, on Ecclesiastes, on Joshua, you will find that they all agree in expounding ad literam that the sun is in the sky and revolves around the earth with great speed, and that the earth is very far from the sky and stands in the centre of the world, immobile. Consider now, with your prudence, whether the Church can tolerate that the Scriptures be given a meaning contrary to the Holy Fathers and to all Greek and Latin exegetes. Nor can it be answered that this is not a matter of faith, because if it is not a matter of faith ex parte obiecti, it is a matter of faith ex parte dicentis; and thus it would be heretical to say that Abraham did not have two sons and Jacob twelve, just as it would be heretical to say that Christ was not born of a virgin, because both are said by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of the prophets and apostles."

"During his years as Pope, Francis has placed great emphasis on the “Catholic” (universal) dimension of the Church, favouring the presence of pastors from all over the world, including in the composition of the College of Cardinals. The fact that he wanted a cardinal for your diocese does not contradict this line, but rather reinforces it, since Rome is called to preside over the communion and charity of all the Churches. In the Diocese of Rome, the universal character of the Church and its particular character come together in a special way. For this reason too, the closeness of Pope Francis, not only to me personally but to the whole Church, is a grace."

"(About illegal immigration) We cannot accept that in 2025 there will still be human waste. They are all brothers and sisters who deserve welcome, respect and dignity."

"[With regard to the vote on Pius XII's Salus Populi Romani and the liberation of Rome from Nazi-Fascist oppression (4 June 1944)] The vote was not only the expression of an imminent need in the face of fear, but it should also involve an act of constant conversion. [...] It is a real commitment. The Roman people, says the prelate, have a great devotion to the Virgin, but this devotion needs to be translated into concrete gestures, because otherwise there is a risk of separating religious devotion from daily practice. Faith and works must always go hand in hand."

"[Pope Francis has left] an immense legacy, placing the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the centre of the Church. [...] I read in his will that he offered all his sufferings to the Lord for peace. [...] [His successor] inherits a Church within which Pope Francis had initiated and opened up various processes, processes that deserve to be deepened and further accompanied. This was one of the pillars of Pope Francis' teaching: rather than occupying spaces, initiate processes. He initiated so many, and we hope that his successor will be able to accompany these processes for the missionary reform of the Church. [...] History teaches us that any prediction [about the duration of the conclave] is likely to be wrong because, in reality, it is the Holy Spirit who guides the Church; it is the Holy Spirit who guides the conclave. Therefore, the Holy Spirit will dictate the timing, and we entrust ourselves to Him."

"According to recent research (March 2025) carried out by Sapienza University of Rome and promoted by the Mayor of Rome, Prof. Roberto Gualtieri, and the City Councillor for Heritage and Housing Policy, Dr. Andrea Tobia Zevi, “An approximate total of around 114,000 households can therefore be estimated as being in a fragile housing situation in Rome and, therefore, overexposed to the risk of serious housing hardship.” This total includes “households in situations of serious emergency, identified as special populations: around 22,000 families”. All this in the presence of approximately 160-200,000 empty and unused private apartments! The problem is complex and has deep roots. It certainly does not help to note that in certain large suburban areas, there are reports of publicly owned dwellings that are uninhabited and awaiting allocation, These are easily exposed to possible squatting, often colluding with criminal activities in the area, such as drug dealing and prostitution. They are sometimes in poor condition, in need of structural renovation, or have many architectural barriers or non-functioning lifts, which isolate the many elderly people who live there alone and many disabled people. Meanwhile, “short-term” rentals are rampant, yielding much higher returns for landlords than “long-term” rentals, i.e. regular rental contracts, and are disrupting the social fabric of many neighbourhoods, not only in the centre. In July 2024, the Istat report indicated that in ten years, the resident population in the First Municipality had fallen by 38%, i.e. more than 20,000 people had moved elsewhere. Meanwhile, the number of short-term rentals on the web reached 35,000, including holiday homes and mini-apartments, without taking into account the irregular market."

"Q: In this sense, how should we interpret the Pope's decision to eliminate the central sector of the diocese? A: I would not speak of elimination, but I would start from Evangelii gaudium and from one of the principles most dear to Pope Francis in these 11 years: the Church that goes forth. If in this Church that goes forth we are not capable of reviewing the territorial organisation, it is not clear how we live this mission. The Pope's idea is that of greater interaction between the peripheries and the centre. The parishes in the centre cannot fail to feel the hardships of the peripheries, just as the peripheries cannot fail to participate in the beauty of the centre. So rather than eliminating the centre, I would say integrating the sectors of the diocese, including the centre."

"(Regarding the death of Pope Francis) In these days, Rome is a people mourning their bishop, a people together with other peoples who have lined up, finding a space among the places of the city to mourn and pray, like sheep without a shepherd. [...] Sheep without a shepherd: a metaphor that allows us to piece together the feelings of these days and to grasp the depth of the image we have received from the Gospel of John, the grain of wheat that must die to bear fruit. [...] A parable that tells of the shepherd's love for his flock."

"Our country has liberty without license, and authority without despotism. She rears no wall to exclude the stranger from coming among us. She has few frowning fortifications to repel the invader, for she is at peace with all the world."

"Perhaps, with regard to the reality of spiritual movements in the Church and the world of institutes of consecrated life, with their very broad exemption from the jurisdiction of bishops, there seems to be a certain tension with the great emphasis that the Council placed on particular Churches and on the ministry of bishops. In general, we are witnessing a certain technical change. Many changes are being introduced into the text of the codes and, unlike the legislation of contemporary states, there is still no official website where all the universal legal norms can be found in their updated form. Moreover, even in countries that are not too large or too rich, there is an official bulletin that is published in paper and digital form. With regard to the universal legal norms of the Holy See, the texts are available in real time on the Vatican's homepage, but official promulgation takes place either in L'Osservatore Romano, which is not a specialised organ for legal texts, or in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, which publishes the texts with considerable delay."

"Faith is the most important thing in life, and therefore, serving the faith of others, passing on the faith, teaching the faith, and especially ministering at the liturgy, are the greatest things in life. [...] Certainly faith came first; this was not experienced in a tragic way by my parents, but in a natural way, knowing that God is supreme."

"the encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge, which Pope Pius XI published before the Second World War in 1937, remains fundamental, in which it is made clear that nations as cultural communities with their own language, their own memory, their own structure, their own culture, represent a true value, they belong to the richness of creation, and are therefore dear to the Creator. In several places in the Bible we find that even at the last judgement, the Lord will judge the nations. Peoples too, not just individual persons. Thus, peoples have a certain role in God's grand design. Yet nations do not represent the supreme value. Looking at nations in this way would be idolatry. Therefore, we always seek this balance indicated by papal teaching. And this teaching seems to be current, even in our day."

"Canon law was my own free choice. While studying at the theological faculty in Budapest, I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the philosophical and theological foundations of canon law in the writings of Nicholas of Cusa. At the end of the 1940s, my father was among the last students at the faculty of civil law to also study canon law. As a seminarian in the first half of the 1970s, I saw first-hand, on the one hand, the discussions on the legitimacy of canon law in the Church and, on the other, the need to clearly consider the legislation in force after the conciliar reforms but before the new Code. I therefore saw the great need for this discipline in the life of the Church."

"It seems that public and private are not separable in human life, in the life of societies, because decisions, even private ones, can have repercussions for society and vice versa. And then the public space, the streets, the squares, never remain empty. That is, it is not possible for there to be no symbols that express some vision of the world. Even during communism, there were so many statues that expressed the communist world view. And I remember that in Albania, where they banned all the religions, Enver Hoxha, the communist dictator, had a pyramid built in the centre of Tirana for himself so the public space does not remain completely empty. And the Christian symbols, for example the Churches, indicate that many generations have recognised that everyday life is not the supreme horizon, but there is a higher horizon that gives meaning and value to the small things in our lives. Therefore, it is important to think about this reality every now and then, at least at the big festivals."

"Interviewer: Have you made any Lenten vows this year? Cardinal Erdő: I do not usually make vows, as a vow is a deeply solemn religious act. I would rather use the term “resolution”. Lent is a time of penance and there are three acts of the penitent: fasting, praying and charity. We need all these three very badly."

"Fr. Giussani placed great emphasis on God’s free and surprising initiative in coming to us, made "encounterable" and "experienceable" in the concreteness of the human life of His Son, in the historical Jesus of Nazareth, who remains forever "a historical fact." This prompted his strong emphasis on Christianity not as a sentiment, a philosophical intuition of sublime truths, or a rigid set of ethical demands, but as an "event" perennially present in history. [...] Thus Fr. Giussani was able to unite “the questions of the human person” and “God’s answer,” showing the reasonableness of the Christian announcement inasmuch as it is the complete fulfillment of the human. His charism as an educator meant he was able to elicit the great questions of the heart, bring to the light the aspirations of the human person, and show how Christ is the definitive answer to those questions. This fascinated thousands of people in the course of his lifetime."

"Interviewer: You are very involved in dialogue with Islam and Judaism. Is it possible to combine mission and interreligious dialogue? Cardinal Aveline: The Church's mission begins with the creation of this climate of dialogue. Again in Ecclesiam suam, Paul VI states that "the climate of dialogue is friendship. Indeed, service." This is what Charles de Foucauld, Pierre Claverie and many others understood: the need for a climate that unites us around the same fundamental existential questions. It is then that the Gospel can be proclaimed, but not as a mere slogan that does not take into account the existential questions of the other. If we consider mission without taking into account the concrete existence of the other, the concrete questions they ask themselves, we risk turning it into a mere word, but not a reality."

"I believe that our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has made tremendous progress in the Church, and has changed in many ways the mentality of so many, both clerics and non-clerics. I think the laity feel much more comfortable within the structures of the Church nowadays than they did ten years ago when Pope Francis came into office. I believe that Pope Francis saw as his mission to continue the Second Vatican Council, the Council that called the laity to be an active, not only 'participant,' but 'member,' with all the rights due to baptism, that every person in the Church has. That was not so well known. [...] Certainly in this Dicastery [Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life], and in several other Dicasteries, the laity are very prominent. In this Dicastery, the ordained ministers are the least noticeable. [...] There are three priests in this dicastery out of 35. I happen to be Prefect, and, I don't know, but can imagine I may have the distinct honor of being the last cleric to be the Prefect of this Dicastery."

"[Pope Pius XII was of] superior intelligence; the richness and acuity of his ideas; the precision in their expression - which he took care of down to the tiniest detail, even in many foreign languages, principally in the German language in which he was a master; his holiness of life; his profound and almost painful concern for the fate of the Church and the world community; his untiring capacity for work."

"The revision of the Concordat in 1984 was a necessity.... I think on certain points I would have done differently today. In a democratic society the legitimate interests of the various components, including the Catholic Church, can be regulated through the law."

"While important Italian cardinals offered support to the military campaign and L’Osservatore Romano remained in a position of prudent legitimization of the war, Tardini assesses and judges the consequences on the clergy, that in his eyes represent ‘the greatest disaster. [...] [Tardini was aware that] the Italian Church is accused of being in league with Fascism. And with the Italian Church, the Holy See. The Holy See has never passed a more difficult period than this’, in which it risks ‘seriously compromising for a century the moral prestige’ accumulated."

"Secularization began with increasing prosperity. Prosperity leads to individualization, and individualization to secularization. In the Netherlands, this happened when prosperity increased at an unprecedented rate, [starting in 1965]."