Roman Catholic Bishops

"We are all human beings and equal in God's eyes and both sides should be treated in the same manner."

"Collaborate as members of the communion of saints, in the salvation of our country and our world."

"In today's changing world, the poor are distinct from those of Jesus' time, and even from the time of Vincent de Paul. Nevertheless, the vocation of the Vincentian Family continues to be one of service on behalf of those who are poor. Therefore, we need to understand the situation of the poor, we need to allow the poor to teach us, and we need to all the poor to speak for themselves. Indeed, we need to present the poor with the reality of God's kingdom, one that is grounded on love."

"The missions are recorded in the DNA of the Church in Poland, which was born, grew up and was formed in society through the Missionary activities of its patron."

"The Holy See gives voice to those who have no voice. This is perhaps a poetic way to phrase it. But I would like to point out that this is the most challenging, interesting, sometimes difficult, but always gratifying side of my daily activity. I am referring to dioceses, associations, religious congregations, and individuals who turn to us, confident that we can help them to meet with and present to the right offices and persons their views and requests, which are usually humanitarian in nature."

"Preaching is difficult due to differences in language, traditions, laws and social resistance. So we are preaching first of all in the language of love by caring for the poor, the abandoned, the young and the old, by helping the suffering and visiting those in hospitals and prisons. The response is good. People notice that we are with the poor. It is not propaganda, but concrete presence."

"Reciprocity is a fine thing. Complete reciprocity is obviously to be desired. But we must be realists. Today we cannot demand reciprocity on non-essential, marginal things, which sometimes not even Muslim groups who are a minority in their own countries enjoy. And I believe that the essential is the freedom to be able to practice one's own religion, to have a place of worship, to be respected as sons of God."

"For our part, we hope to restore peace and reconciliation through dialogue and reaffirm the need for Christians to respect all other believers."

"Our method of evangelising is in fact to promote respect for the dignity of every person"

"Young Cambodians realize that they are apostles, and realize that evangelization is not the sole prerogative of priests and religious. It is the hope of Christ in us which we want to give to the world. The Gospel is not spread through proselytism, but by infecting people with one's enthusiasm."

"In Borneo's society there is social and interreligious harmony. We have cases where, in the same tribe, there are Muslims and Christians who share the same culture and traditions. The relationship with the Muslim Malays is marked by mutual respect and is devoid of conflict. I believe that this experience could be a model for the entire nation."

"If God so wills, I will bear fruit. I am a grown up plant of forty years in priesthood service. This is God's plan and His will. I never thought that, at the age of sixty-six, I would be made a bishop. God has fulfilled His own dream in this way. That's how I take it."

"The increasing involvement of the Holy See in multilateral diplomacy is the result of the conviction that the human person's dignity and rationality must be protected and served. It's the basic expression of the love of neighbor that implies a universal dimension: an approach where there are no conditions."

"The Lord is asking us to be aware of them and to reach out to them. We are asked to preach the Gospel with our lives. This Gospel, this body of Christian faith which helps us enter into the mystery of suffering and redemption, will not be credible if the members of the body of Christ are not ready to enter into the suffering of others and accompany them."

"Our Church needs help. Ours is a mission Church that prays to reawaken values of closeness and solidarity in others. Only in this way can the Mediterranean be a frontier of peace."

"The greatest need of the Church in our times is her own evangelization: to strengthen the faith of Christians, reinitiate in the faith those who are non-practicing and propose the faith to non-believers."

"For twenty years the missionary heart of our diocese has pulsed with new life."

"We cannot renounce our faith and not give a reason for it to those who wish to hear us. We need not hide our faith in Jesus Christ out of fear, nor should we keep quiet when there is an opportunity to bear witness to it."

"The house where the family lives deserves to be called a "home" only when happiness is the air that all in the family breaths and where everyone experiences the joy of living together in harmony. Today, many of the families are struggling with the many challenges and distractions that are there. These have to be faced and overcome to build healthy families. The families are at their best when it comes to discussing and tackling problems and conflicting issues."

"We've gone from a traditional system to a modern system that the population needs to learn about, and I believe that the role of the Church today is to educate for democracy."

"Buenaventura can no longer handle the events of the moment, it needs structural solutions to structural problems. No cotton to buffer the wound, we need to intervene."

"I told the President of Colombia that in Buenaventura there were more than a thousand deaf people that needed assistance, among many other groups of the population. But I realized that the local authorities are also deaf and dumb."

"The Church works for the proclamation and the complaint, in order to live in peace. This task begins in the family, which is the first school, and where there should be no violence. We must be agents of life, respectful of people, diversity and the environment."

"Peace will come only if we truly love one another. We might have hurt others and the environment in the past, and we should repent in this new year."

"We should not see a Hansenite or a disabled person as a curse or burden. For us Christians, they are the grace and blessing of God, because they reflect the image of Christ."

"We must retain the positive values of our culture and use them to bring people to God. The habits of revenge and conflicts among tribes must be stopped. Love your neighbors and put your faith in Christ."

"In Ethiopia I really understood the Gospel."

"Our main concern now is to bring peace to the hearts of the people. Schools have an important role in this since classes have children of different ethnic groups and this is where they can be educated to live side by side."

"We all work not for ourselves, but for the Kingdom of God. If we can make this great organization, which are the Pontifical Societies, a family, then they will regain its former glory and renewed vitality."

"What the U.N. tries to do and what we preach in Catholic social doctrine are largely the same values. We may have differences sometimes in reaching the objectives, but we are convinced that we are working towards the same objectives listed in the U.N. Charter: sparing us from the scourge of war, having international treaties observed, promoting and respecting fundamental human rights, and observing and fostering the development of all in larger freedom."

"We wish to foster serious and respectful dialogue to offer enlightenment at a time when society needs to hear voices calling for harmonious co-existence, a culture of legality, civil participation and united efforts to make Mexico a more just and fraternal nation where the rule of law is a guarantee for all citizens to exercise their human rights and fulfil their obligations."

"It is God who converts a heart, it is God who gives faith. This is why politics cannot touch this intimate sphere of consciousness. Christians do not want power, but they only want to give service to man, in particular to the marginalized and the excluded."

"We are bound to encounter many failures, difficulties, pains, trials, temptations and disappointments. Whatever it is, we are called to be courageous, striving continuously because Jesus is with us always. He will never abandon us."

"The question arises as how to help our people remain credible witnesses of the gospel in the contemporary world. I propose that our Social Doctrine should be made an essential and integral component of our catechesis and homilies. The Good News explained through the Social Doctrine may be more palatable to the inquisitive mind of the modern man."

"Luena, the scene of frequent military operations, was not a good place to live. But for me, it was the best environment to encounter God in mission, in communion with a new people who immediately adopted me as one of their family."

"The hope is there thanks to our communities, where faith is so alive that we can see a future through their open attitude to life, to God and the Church."

"From a biological point of view, we all advance with age, but to tell you the truth, I keep myself young because I engage with young people and I am with them. I live in a community residence and this helps me to have a direct relationship with the young. But there is an important element of life: prayer. I think a person, even a young person, without prayer and spiritual life, is not capable of loving and meeting others."

"Priesthood still is the most marvelous gift and mystery – there is no end to the wonder of it; it's a joyful life."

"I never felt my priesthood was a private possession. I always felt I was a priest for people."

"Where there is Mary, there is Jesus and where there is Jesus there is joy, Mary is not only the Mother of God, she is the Mother of all of us who seek her constant intercession, we entrust our suffering to her."

"Peace can be built on the foundations of reconciliation and justice. Today I can see the evidence of authentic faith that my people are showing: in them there is no hatred or resentment towards those who have destroyed and killed, but the joy that comes from God This is love towards the enemy, preached in the Gospel. I preach this to families and to the displaced faithful who suffer from poverty. This is how we heal the wounds of the past and make space for reconciliation."

"We believe that persecution is part of our Christian vocation and Christian life. We are not afraid, but we live it as a blessing from God. We know that where there is persecution, faith is strengthened, and today I am proud to say that faith in my people is strengthening."

"This conflict, now in its eighth year, has left so much damage in people's hearts — in the end, we can only pray for eventual reconciliation, for those who've died, and for God to treat the wounds inflicted. War spares no one, and everyone, Catholic and Orthodox alike, suffers from it."

"We are convinced that the future of the Church depends on the quality of its priests. This is why our Dicastery considers formation, especially priesthood, as a priority, and is strongly committed to supporting not only formators but also the formation structures in mission territories."

"The ethics of the Church and the fundamental human ethics are the same thing, they are linked. Therefore, my appeal is that we treat these farmworkers as we treat other workers in the State of New York, with the same dignity, simply because they are human beings. They are entitled to the same kind of protections that other workers in the State of New York have."

"In Kazakhstan, the people of God continue to grow in number and, above all, in quality, that it is the most important thing."

"We can be united even though we live in different countries, with different governments and cultures. And this is possible because we have the same faith, we belong to the same Church: on the other hand, Catholicism is distinguished precisely by its universality. I think that it is a very beautiful testimony."

"We are a periphery that bears witness to God's love for the whole world."

"I don't think that it's my role as a bishop, to run around and judge. It's rather to run around and invite people into a relationship with Jesus. The Lord accepted people for who they are, and where there are, and tried to lead them to a better life, to lead them to a life that was more holy, a life that was more filled with His love and mercy. A life that was not self-centered, but self-giving. That's the example he showed to us. At times, the church needs to be a voice in the public square, but the church's voice should never be dictated by the public square."

"Everything we do as a church these days needs to have as its heart a desire of evangelization. Every conversation about how we pray together in the liturgy, how we do faith formation — whether it’s in our Catholic schools or in our parish religious education programs, RCIA, adult formation — all of that has to ask the question: "How are we using these things to evangelize, to bring others to Jesus Christ?""