Catholics From Italy

"In this tragedy I would like to underline a beautiful thing, in my opinion, and that is the Uganda's capacity to welcome."

"We are all disciples of Jesus, we are urged not to consider ourselves the owners, dominators of the faith of others. We are servants for the sake of Jesus."

"While moral rectitude cannot be substituted by professional competencies, it does promote and cultivate them."

"We will be humble and trusting pilgrims in a place that is of highest importance in the faith, bringing our hopes and anxieties, and in the celebration of the Eucharist, in our encounter with the Risen Lord, we will pray for ourselves and our Church, that we may receive the gift of a joyful and courageous faith, so as to produce hope and dialogue with those who will ask us about the meaning of life. We owe it to Rome, to offer this city a renewed proclamation of the Gospel, capable of transforming the daily lives of families, youth, the sick, and the poor."

"We should work towards an "education of hope," so that the Church in Rome may continue to proclaim the Gospel of the Risen Lord with renewed energy, as it is the ‘first fruit’ of new life that has no end. We should work towards a perseverant prayer that purifies the heart, opens itself to God and to others and sparks a testimony of love, especially towards the poor, and to a positive cooperation that knows how to find the good wherever it is."

"I believe that the words of the Holy Father have been an invitation to moderation, to dialogue, to negotiation to get through the tension and to see, to hope, that there are none of these... acts of revenge."

"Bring the situation in the Middle East to the attention of the international community. Everyone must respect the rules of law."

"Dialogue enables us to appreciate the qualities of the other person and it's also a stimulus for us, for in dialogue we need to be consistent witnesses. Interreligious dialogue always begins with the profession of one's faith. This avoids relativism."

"2010 and 2011 are decisive years for Sudan's history. I am convinced that there is concrete hope for peace."

"We shouldn't cede to those who want to impose hate. We should be able to live, respecting us mutually."

"In every saint there is a dimension beyond time. It is of perennial timeliness since the essence of holiness is communion with God and the perfect imitation of Christ. What saints bequeath to us is their conformity to Christ and the originality with which they were able to rework and present anew in their epoch the thought, words, manner and style of Christ."

"Africa is not only on the receiving end. Africa can give a lot to the rest of the world. We are called to work for this to happen."

"Catechesis must be experiential, a true accompaniment in the experience of God, not a schooled catechesis where only an indoctrination or a teaching of knowledge is received."

"Catholic Schools operate in all the different geographical areas, even those where there is no religious freedom, or which are socially and economically most disadvantaged, with an astonishing capacity to meet emergencies and formative needs, despite at times, great difficulties."

"You can't build peace if you're not educated in peace and if you don't educate peace. Because peace is a mature fruit with many aspects to it. It doesn't come as a spontaneous reaction. Often building peace means first overcoming many difficulties: tensions, problems, diverse positions. So without training, without peace education that involves feelings and thought processes, peace won't get built. Or it may get built, but on very shaky foundations. There's no peace without peace education."

"The Pope has placed before us a beautiful goal, this universal brotherhood, which logically, includes women and men, for Saint Francis did not exclude anyone! It is a commitment that begins to daily life, in the relationships that each of us have, and then extends it to the areas of professional or social commitment where we find ourselves, at whatever level. Logically, in the current situation, this is not easy, we cannot hide it and be naïve, but we have a goal and a great hope, for which we are also responsible. Moreover, I have faith that if we try to do our small part, God will do the rest if we let Him."

"In the international community, the Holy See also has the mission of ensuring that the interdependence between people and nations be developed in a moral and ethical dimension, as well as in the other dimensions and various aspects that relations are acquiring in today's world. One must never tire of encouraging dialogue at all levels, always seeking diplomatic solutions."

"I personally think that when we make decisions it is better to err on the side of an excess of generosity, instead of rigidity."

"More than tolerance, we must stress citizenship."

"This small, but great church has given the world church countless martyrs. These were people who had a great loyalty to Christ and the church. Catholicism continued on in Albania. This is thanks to the martyr church."

"It is necessary to promote in the faithful the sense of responsibility and participation for a better awareness and a greater commitment to contribute to the life of the ecclesial community. In Israel, the Catholic Church of the Latin rite, as well as various parishes celebrating in Arabic, is present with a community in Hebrew that is rather composite and even variable, since many migrants of different origins are part of it. Pastorally and socially it appears lively as well as growing. It can be said that it is a highly symbolic reality, representing the Church of Christ within His people. The Catholic communities of the Melkite, Maronite, Greek-Catholic, Syrian-Catholic and Armenian rites that exist in Israel and Palestine also face the challenge of the dwindling number of the faithful and clergy as well as the scarcity of resources. They express the richness of faith, of liturgy, of the identity of the Christian East that must be protected. Moreover, being part of the Catholic Church as such, they are faithful to the Holy Father and attest to the universality of the Church of Christ, not only geographically but also in temporal terms, referring to the origins of the Church that is present in the Holy Land in a peculiar way with various rites of equal dignity."

"The Successor of Peter does not have the problem of making known "which side he is on", because the Vicar of Christ, like his Lord, is always with the innocent who suffer as Jesus suffered on the cross. Every word he says, every attempt he makes, is aimed at saving human lives, at not yielding to the logic of evil, at fighting evil with good."

"Faced with secularization and the difficulties Christians are confronted with today in transmitting their faith, we might be tempted to close up, trying to create perfect communities that withdraw from the world to preserve their small, or very small, flock, waiting for the storm to pass, looking with nostalgia to a past that no longer exists. On the other hand, another real risk today is that of hyperactivity: we might be tempted to invest all our energies in missionary strategies, thinking that proclamation, witness, and even conversion are not fruits of the Spirit we should give space to, but the result of our skills and protagonism. As a consequence – and, unfortunately, this happens more and more often in our digital age – the risk is that the evangelizer and his ruses rather than the Gospel and its Protagonist become the focus evangelization. Indeed, we need to leave space to the Protagonist: this is the real meaning of conversion as a metanoia, a change of mentality in light of the Gospel."

"The Church is the mother, so she needs all her children and in particular those who are young because they are the present moment of the Church and the present moment of our society and the world."

"A divided Church is against the will of Jesus Christ and is anti-missionary and anti-evangelizing. We should use every means possible, such as prayer, to fulfill Jesus' will. Loving the Church, for priests, means realizing that this is not going well. We need to maintain Christ's spirit and bear witness to unity."

"If I knew with moral certitude that this is a sin, maybe I would not have put myself in that condition. But now I already find myself there: How can I go back? It is one thing to begin, another to interrupt."

"I thank everyone, priests, religious and laity for the affection towards our Pastor, and especially you children, who are the loving face of Christ for the world."

"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."

"To find a way through dialogue the answer to the legitimate aspirations of the people of Syria in a way which also gives guarantees to all its components for a better society. Of course the situation in Syria depends also on the balance of powers in the region and the good will of the international community as a whole. We know that there is a new distribution of powers in this region and so if there is not the presence of all the actors internationally, regionally and locally, there will be no answer to the situation in Syria."

"Canonization, which everyone admits does not derive directly from faith, is never an actual definition relating to faith or tradition."

"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."

"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"

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

"Churches and monasteries everywhere should not be seen only as "cultural treasures" needing to be preserved materially, but also with due respect for the conditions that enable Christian communities to practice their faith freely in those centres."

"May we always be sincere and courageous heralds of peace, without forgetting that there is no peace without justice and there is no justice without forgiveness."

"The Church is expected, even in the middle of human weakness and error, to guard, in obedience and veneration, the Gospel Christ has entrusted to her. The Pope is not the creator of the faith, but the custodian of the Gospel."

"I hope that this Congress next year will be a moment for the Church and society to reflect on the fact that everything really depends, at least for us Catholics and believers, on the Eucharist. Jesus' words have become our Gospel and Jesus' actions have become our Sacraments. It is fundamental for us to see this in the celebration of the Congress."

"I believe that diversity should be a mutual gift, enriching interpersonal and social relationships, opening minds and hearts to those who are different. Yet if we place too much emphasis on what distinguishes us, then peculiarities and nationalisms inevitably resurface, with the consequence that differences become obstacles or, even worse, walls. A Christian, the word itself indicates, even before belonging to a nation, belongs to Christ, who gave his life for us."

"My opinion is that the best law is an education of quality, that begins in the family, grows at school and finds in society a stimulus for the formation of people. We are greatly lacking in civic friendship, we look at one another as mad people and not as brethren or as people who share the same ideal, the same purpose."

"I can say that canonical recognition by the Holy See is an essential condition for a Catholic organization to be in full ecclesiastical communion, conforming to the law. There is no canonical recognition, we are working on it, but canonical recognition is not something notarial, it is essential!"

"To simplify, we have before us a central power, which is trying to resurface and assert itself, which is facing federal states which, in turn, are trying to make their voice heard. In fact, this confrontation has immobilized the country. The Somali political situation is influenced by the interests of regional and international actors. The price of this situation is the instability paid by the civilian population."

"I expect greater involvement of the Somali diaspora, while better coordination and a unified approach of the international community would be desirable."

"Canon Law, which teaches how to correctly interpret and apply the Church's law, is a body of law founded on natural and divine law which are the ultimate parameters of justice that ecclesiastical authority must follow. Therefore, Canon Law grants all the necessary tools to those who exercise authority so they can adapt the rigor and the requirements of the law to be justly applied in concrete cases, that is to say, that the demands of charity and mercy cannot be forgotten in applying the law."

"This young woman who aspired to be a missionary sister was forced to leave her convent because of sickness which she lived with steadfast faith, showing a great capacity for sacrifice for the salvation of souls."

"It is beautiful to give oneself to Jesus who gave himself to us without reserve."