Roman Catholic Bishops

"From a Christian point of view: we are all children of our heavenly Father. For His glory we want His children to get along with one another, to help and love each other. This should be the visible sign that Timisoara gives to Europe."

"During all his long and active career in this northwest section, he was particularly successful in his dealings with the many Indians under his charge. They looked up to him as a father and protector, and his great popularity among the various tribes was not only of benefit to the Church, but was utilized on numerous occasions by the United States Government to further the political, material, and moral welfare of the Indians. His death was regarded as a great loss to the work of the evangelization and civilization of the Indians."

"We must take care of people who have lost everything, who are traumatized and in need of care."

"Care for the salvation of souls cannot be separated from the commitment to safeguard the health of bodies."

"After I was ordained, I realized that sometimes I have to be a teacher, a lawyer, a plumber, an electrician and a janitor in the parish."

"Think of a more humane economic model in the context of social justice, charity, and integral development. It's time to think about the "common good.""

"He has founded new parishes, aided struggling ones, reorganised the parochial school system, provided for the orphans and promoted all good works."

"We claim a space among the people of God and not one of us can be left out. We must first acknowledge that we belong here, that this is our rightful place. God desires us to be here. God desires you and me to recognize our sacred calling as His children, and to give witness."

"I am satisfied with the way I have responded to the call of God. There is difficulty involved in it because you see all these material things around you and you want to be involved in material things but I feel as though that I am blest in the sense that I have values that are still admired by people and that has guided me in my life."

"Both for the quality of leadership he offered, and also for some of the things he was able to achieve, I think Bishop Martin will long be remembered for making a significant inroad in the leadership of the Church."

"We begin by acknowledging one another's humanity, we begin by getting to know one another as human beings well before we move on to talking about history and theology."

"It seems to be a conceded point now among those who are leading the way in our church that the Church of Rome has all the wisdom, and it must follow that, while some are striving to gain that wisdom, some will, as a matter of course, remain unquiet until they can gain the religious graces which she alone bestows with that wisdom."

"We don't have issues with other faiths in the locality. Some people are trying to create problems."

"In our economy, it would seem that everything is done in connection with being able to pay the external debt, of satisfying foreign creditors, without thinking of those who are in the country, who are the ones who suffer the consequences."

"With its water power and admirable position at the foot of the Chaudiere Falls and at the mouth of two rivers, Bytown soon came to the front as a centre of industry. In 1848 its prospects were such that Rome raised the thriving little town to the rank of an episcopal see."

"I take with me in my heart this learning, in the confidence and assurance that this work is from God, and I place myself at the disposal of the Holy Mother church to serve her no matter the place and ministry entrusted to me by God from now on."

"At the Third Council of Baltimore Bishop O'Farrell was considered one of the most eloquent speakers in the American hierarchy."

"It was certainly wise to choose a prelate whose vast and intimate acquaintance with the Fathers and with ecclesiastical history was equalled only by his thorough knowledge of canon law. He seems to have given universal satisfaction by his work as secretary, but the burden was a heavy one, and in spite of his excellent constitution his untiring labours were thought to have been the cause of his early death."

"It is the duty of all, priests, religious and lay, to cooperate as one body in missionary work."

"For the schools to exist without the church they are simply public schools and for the church to exist without the schools we no longer have a means or a voice to the leaders and people of tomorrow and we will very quickly become irrelevant to society and we must not allow either of these to happen."

"Shake off the minority complex and get involved in the lives of people."

"Who am I to have this miracle of the priesthood? Who am I to become a bishop? Yet, when I see you here, I am now convinced, I am a bishop."

"He was revered as a kind father and sympathetic friend, having a wide acquaintance amongst people of all ranks and denominations. His private life was simple, humble, and democratic. During his regime, Catholicism made marked progress within the diocese."

"We need to be absolutely certain and convicted of this truth that everybody that we meet in our daily lives wants to know about the truth of God that He has revealed to us. It's not always obvious."

"This episcopacy is not about me, in the first place. It is about the mercy of God on me his unworthy servant. The Lord expects me not to be successful but to be faithful in keeping pure and teaching pure and teaching in word and in deed the faith contained in the Sacred Word of God, written or handed on, and the teachings and discipline of the Church as well."

"Once people fall in love with Jesus Christ, they want to know everything about him. My experience has always been that kids will evangelize their peers"

"A man of apostolic virtue and a typical pioneer bishop."

"It is no small thing to have the witness of fraternal life offered by a community of priests, also for the lay faithful. Besides the care they show, both from the point of view of charity, and from the point of view of pastoral care of the poor, which is a characteristic of the parish ministry of the Church."

"All those who find themselves between two opposing factions suffer and the church was always a victim of this cross fire, not least because each of the parties claims the support of the Catholic church."

"Realise that we have been sent to transmit the message of Christ which is not identified with any culture and that, therefore, we must not preach theories of our own invention. This way, we will be able to evangelise cultures and the people of Africa. Outside of their own culture, the families will not be Christian, but only copies of Christian families and little more."

"The Church was founded by Christ, the divisions among Christians were therefore a rejection of the Lord's will and a scandal for the world."

"Conversion is nothing other than simply adhering oneself to a person, to Jesus Christ, to His Gospel, to the values of the Kingdom of God, and using the Gospel as the reference point in viewing reality, situations, in approaching life in a new way, with all its challenges."

"The Bishop must be a man of communion, husbanding the talents of all members of God's people, careful not to stifle legitimate differences and engendering harmony and peace among the various tendencies prevalent among God's people. As a result, conflicts, rather than being divisive become occasions for growth. As promoter of human dignity the Bishop calls the best from all men and women through actions faithful to the Word thereby enabling the Gospel to penetrate."

"Hope helps one to endure, to wait. These are people who want to do something, who want to work, but they need hope."

"As an old and retired bishop, I try to make my stay with them as fruitful as I can. I share my long pastoral experiences and challenges of a Religious, and encourage them to give their best for Mother Church."

"He built the beautiful St. Joseph's Church in the city of Albany, and established a home for the aged in charge of the Little Sisters of the Poor, and orphanages under the care of the Sisters of Charity and Christian Brothers in the same city. The secular clergy still proving inadequate for the growing and insistent needs of the ministry, he encouraged the Augustinian Fathers and the Minor Conventuals to cast their lot with the diocese. He secured the future of Catholic schools by establishing the celebrated convent of the Sacred Heart at Kenwood."

"To better integrate into people's lives, you need to learn their mother tongue, communicate, understand each other, establish bonds of friendship and communion."

"Politics are not only elections. Politics are also citizenship."

"We hope that the awareness of the necessity of transmitting the faith by relating more to the content of the face that this will be taken over by the local churches."

"We are asking all the faithful to pray for the victims and help survivors. As Christians, Christian charity is something we must live out. We should practice what we believe and profess."

"if we are going to be on mission in this world, a world that so desperately needs to hear the Gospel, it's not what we take with us on mission. It's who we take. And here is the good news—it's our job to make a decision for Christ, the strength and the power to become missionaries will come from him."

"Our preaching is an inherently priestly act, it's forming people with love with the Gospel of Christ. How we do it is really the key."

"Without trust there can be no progress. Ecumenical collaboration is not a strange word for us."

"Even those supposedly trained for years in biblical "studies" are quite unable to bring the Bible as living word into people's lives. One might ask: what makes other Christian groups often so appealing to the grassroots people? Is it not their thirst for God's life-giving word? To help remedy this inadequacy, a serious formation in biblical apostolate ought to be integrated into the seminary and religious curriculum."

"You don't kill life inside the mother. This is the time for Blessed Gianna Beretta Molla to intercede for the life you are carrying."

"The time for your canonization has arrived. Intercede to the Lord for the grace of a miracle and save the life of this little baby."

"I understand my appointment to the episcopal see of Litoměřice, according to our Redemptorist charism, as a missionary vocation with particular attention to those who are most in need of our help."

"I believe it was time for a cardinal to be chosen from here. It will be a challenge, I am sure, but with the help of God and my community I will try to further the teachings of the Lord."

"ministry of the Word pertains also to the Social Doctrine of the Church. It is known that the Church in every time and in every situation has a triple role in society which consists in: announcing the truth about dignity and the rights of man, denouncing the existing unjust situations and contributing to the realization of positive changes to society."

"The question we need to ask: Is it our structures that put the restraint on people who want to belong? Is it our structures that frustrate those committed priests with a great love for their people who feel they can do very little?"