Roman Catholic Bishops

"To be politically motivate and politically sensitive to what is happening around us is part of our responsibility as Church. We must educate people on this – this is an important area but since it is delicate area, we must be prudent in going about it."

"Please, know that Nigeria is a gift by God to the black race. Therefore, it is my hope and prayer that someday and in our waking moments of God-given opportunity, our gifted children will see the daylight in which they will soar to their peak moments in actualising their dreams. Africa looks up to Nigeria as the most populous Black Country with potentials beyond measure. God loves Nigeria. It is not a dream but a reality to be attained."

"Bishops and priests should bring the spiritual dimension to political and social life. The poor will be exploited and used as a pretext for partisan or other agendas."

"I defend celibacy for those who feel the priestly calling. But I also say: We need new collaborators in our communities. The ordination of married men meets this need, so I'm in favor. It's a process that must advance for the maturity of our church, not just in the Amazon, but who knows, maybe in other parts of the church, in our continent, and the whole world."

"Since this office has also been entrusted to me, each element takes on a deeper meaning."

"With the vast amount of knowledge you will discover about God, may you come to know that you really do not know. And may that bring you to the ground on both knees in sheer humility. For humility is the beginning of wisdom."

"I feel Advent is a joyful preparation for the Nativity of the Lord. It's always struck me that perhaps liturgical vestments, which at this time are purple, would better perhaps be blue, uniting us to our Blessed Lady in her preparation for the birth of her Son, but then I am a bit unconventional in this way."

"Why does God allow natural disasters and tragedy? Because good seems to flourish in close proximity to evil. Tragedy provides an opportunity to make saints out of sinners."

"Washington is known for Starbucks and Microsoft, but very little is said of agriculture that generates wealth for the state. Most of the people working in this field are migrant workers, and I am here because we need them."

"Eat that money without compromising with them. If they come to bribe you, accept the money but don’t vote for them because you will be alone while voting. Do not fear because you will have committed no sin and God cannot be angry with you."

"The Holy See wishes to offer its support to any initiative in favour of dialogue and reconciliation and also take advantage of this to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to North Korea."

"The objective should be to save the life of Father Sinnott and also those of his kidnappers. Every human life is sacred. We pray and hope that negotiations begin soon and will lead to a peaceful solution."

"We have to see the agenda beneath the agenda. Many would like to see Catholic services and the Catholic Church go away."

"Our faithful are afraid, but we, their pastors, constantly call on them to remain calm. The terrorists are trying to scare us, but we must remain at peace and pray that God may convert their hearts."

"I am Catholic since birth. I profess the Catholic faith. I am firm in my belief in Jesus Christ, attending Mass is very important, and Our Lady of Altagracia is the patroness of the people of the Dominican Republic. Here we have the Dominican community united in our faith."

"The culture of death groups demand that unrestricted abortion be approved, maternal mortality does not go down, neither do teen pregnancies."

"An administrator is neither a master nor a slave who cannot decide anything, but one who is given a responsibility by the Master."

"Ultimately, this appointment is not about me; it is about Jesus Christ, and about how we, as living members of the body of Christ, bring him to the world by the way we live out our baptismal vocation with love."

"The importance of proclaiming the kerygma of faith must never be subordinated to any political situation, whether it concerns the Church itself, the general situation or conflict with other Churches. This is obvious and everyone understands it, but it is difficult to put into practice. It is often difficult for Christians in a situation of war not to refer to circumstances, even those of a political nature. And perhaps it is not even right, but this is not what being Christian is all about. People are not saved by a news bulletin instead of a homily because they already see tragedies on television. People need hope, and the only hope is that Christ died and rose again. This is difficult to understand when priests are called to fight at the front, leaving parish communities vacant. Who can give these people widespread hope for survival if not the liturgy, the sacraments, prayer, the priest who comforts and helps: in short, the love of God? How can one think that it is more useful to fight than to manage the morale of the people? But to do so, one must believe in God. And when faith is a kind of veneer, then choices are made which, convinced that they are for the good of the people, call into question the very survival of the people themselves. Instrumentalisation always becomes a strong temptation for those in power to have the Church on their side and for the Church to take advantage. And when you ask to have the Church on your side, it means that you feel fragile."

"(About Syria) It is a destroyed country. Twelve years of war, and above all the results of certain aspects of the sanctions, have made the people miserable. I was in Syria 25 years ago, I don't recognise it, it's the third world. Salaries are almost non-existent, there is no work, there is huge emigration, cities are destroyed by bombing; I can't see the difference between bombing and the fall caused by the earthquake. People are worn out, they have no hope. A bit of Eastern fatalism helps, where they say, ‘It's okay, it happened, let's hope for God’: Muslims say it, Christians say it with the same phrase in Arabic. The current situation of war and sanctions makes it very difficult to help them: it takes a long time to get visas, sending money is impossible, and then there are areas that are under different controls. And there are some groups that don't let anything through, except to those they decide. And I must say that many European countries also go through dissident groups on the ground because they have a more similar political position, but they do not check where this money goes and to whom. If it were not for some Franciscans who, with mental gymnastics and an infinite imagination that only Easterners have, manage to find more or less legal alternative channels, people would have nothing. I went there first and foremost to bring the Holy Father's blessing, closeness and affection, but also to provide practical help and to tell the organisations what they should not do when sending aid."

"Journalist: So, not enough is known about the artistic and cultural heritage of the Eastern Churches? Cardinal Gugerotti: No, it is not known. Decades ago, there was a document from the then Congregation for Catholic Education, which prescribed that every Latin seminary should include teaching on the Eastern Churches. It is probably one of the most disregarded documents among the many disregarded documents produced by the Holy See. Journalist: Why do you think that is? Cardinal Gugerotti: Because there was a period when the humanities were considered more important for the integration of the seminary curriculum than the historical or philological-artistic aspects. So it became a mammoth programme, covering everything, but these fundamental aspects for understanding Christianity were left out. This is very serious to me because it means a partial knowledge of one's own identity. It also potentially means a source of controversy between one person and another or, conversely, the premise of ecstatic adoration of the other: both attitudes that have no foundation and are not at all useful."

"The Eastern world observes Lent very strictly. One of the things that Easterners are most passionate about is knowing how much you fast. It may be a naive question, but generally it stems from the perception that fasting is a sign of how seriously you take God and how much you understand that God is the only essential thing. Therefore, you must distance yourself from all the little idols that systematically tend to replace Him. This is what fasting is really about: abstaining from what risks becoming the centre of the day, taking the place of God. Prayer and fasting, which increase during Lent, are a reaffirmation for Easterners that life belongs to God, that space belongs to God."

"Cardinal Gugerotti: I get the impression that very often the West, with all its sophistication, is accustomed to talking as if we were a group of old ladies playing bridge on an island surrounded by caimans. Journalist: You mean, from a position that is a little too "comfortable"? Cardinal Gugerotti: Yes, we are used to not having wars that directly involve us, but we could have them the day after tomorrow, and in any case they are already within our borders. All the conditions are there. The Pope often speaks of a war in pieces, and now the pieces are in danger of coming together very easily."

"What emerges from this brief but well-documented summary is that Rome has always been home to a significant number of Easterners and Eastern communities. This applies not only to the Empire but also to the Church. The Roman Church was heavily populated by Eastern communities that preserved their distinctiveness for a long time. Readers may be surprised to learn that eleven popes were Greek and almost ten were Syriac. This means that their presence was not marginal. Rome, caput mundi, was also a city in which Easterners identified themselves as integrated into its fabric, and not simply as small communities of emigrants."

"(About the Gaza war and Israelian raids) We have returned to the law of the jungle, well represented by very modern weapons, but it is still the law of the club. We hoped that, especially with Humanism, the Renaissance and the great cultures of antiquity, it had been overcome, but we realise that this is not the case for the moment. [...] The feeling is that hatred has grown exponentially in recent times. The delicate problem is that there is no international body capable of mediating. There are individual bodies that decide to be the masters of the world. This is another issue. This is not the spirit in which the United Nations or other organisations were created, nor, to tell the truth, the European Union. There is a strong institutional weakness in international organisations."

"The Church discovers its unity in the name of Francis."

"Today, ecumenism in Ukraine is still a dream."

"I’m increasingly convinced that we have in our hands an effective answer to come out of the crisis, even if at times we are not always aware of it: this answer is a University that functions well, namely, a University that is an inexhaustible place of dialogue between faith and reason, a fervent forge of formation of formators."

"Many of the faithful believe Holy Communion leads to personal sanctification and transformation of attitudes and engenders responsiveness to the needs of others... for many others there is a disparity between what they believe and how they live."

"We remain very grateful for the historic communities who have served us so well in the Diocese over many years, and yet we are also grateful for the new life that the newer communities – like Sister Adorers – bring to our future life in God."

"As young Deacons, you have to push yourself as hard as possible to get as far as possible and to be of service as much as possible even to the point that you fall asleep while standing so to say."

"I come to you as a pilgrim. It has really been a pilgrimage for me from when I left Cameroon to when I am standing here as the bishop of the U.S. Virgin Islands."

"As I watched John Dew lay prostrate on the floor during the litany of the saints at his ordination, I thought – Oh golly, I could be the next one on the floor. And so I was."

"For John Paul II everything begins with God's "yes" to man, everything arises from God's plan of "infinite love." God's "yes" to man means "yes" to his dignity, to his authentic needs. It means 'yes' to the world ... and to everything that is beautiful, good and just in life."

"I am so happy that I have this opportunity to take this vaccine today. I advice everyone who love his life and is a child of God to do the same. Forget all the propaganda going around, we have taken other vaccines for yellow fever and the rest and I advice people to go for this so we can stem the spread of this thing. We are appealing to everyone, every Catholic and every Christian to go and take this vaccine. It will help us worship better and will help us return to normalcy."

"We must teach even if our voices get hoarse. We must teach even if they threaten us. We must teach even if they kill us and if they kill us, our message will echo even more because the best way to teach is through martyrdom!"

"The Church in Haiti has a prophetic mission. She has to denounce the terrible conditions. And so it is quite possible that she is a thorn in the side of some of these politicians. But we can't know for sure... but everybody knows that our politicians make use of criminal gangs to control certain areas. The boundary between organised crime and politics is quite fluid."

"The poverty vow is not a big deal, since I was born to a simple family. The obedience vow was taught when I was in the seminary. But the celibacy vow is the toughest challenge. Living the celibate life is a challenge to priests. It is not easy because it is something most people believe is against human nature."

"Destroying the country is not a solution. These demonstrations are a way to express frustration but it is not the solution. We have to find a way to talk."

"I offer the pain I'm going through so that the Lord, our God, may purify the church of Rumbek from all errors and things like these may happen no more; no room for violence, division, (and) selfish desires that come from the devil."

"We do not recognize the annexation of Crimea, because the Church is outside of politics."

"The politics of Naru is very delicate and especially when we involved as a Church."

"Those who love the truth understand the truth better, understand it sooner, understand it more."

"The Centenary of Independence has a double significance. One is looking back, thanking God for the gift of freedom, for those who gave their lives and suffered for freedom, both in the early years of national independence, as well as during the many years of occupation during which such a great price was paid to preserve the hope of freedom. It is also a call to look toward the future, to preserve the flame of freedom in our hearts today; to understand the deeper meaning of freedom, not only a freedom from oppression, but also a freedom to find one’s vocation and to serve God and one’s neighbor. This is especially true for our young people, who must see what different types of things limit their freedom today, as well as the responsibilities that true freedom gives us."

"Tragically, the fundamentalists target tribals who originally are not even Hindu. These tribals are extremely poor and depend entirely on the majority community for their livelihood, so they are an easy target for pressure and intimidation from those who want to force them to participate in these re-conversions."

"Christians in India have constitutional guarantees to practice our faith, share the Good News and the message of Christ, which is for all humanity. This is not conversion nor is anyone forced."

"I’m hoping that the Catholic Church is going to be more present in our neighborhoods and our communities and that we are reaching out, because we believe in Jesus and love him so much that we want to share him with everyone and bring him to the lives of all, not just Catholics."

"When times are difficult it is time to meet Christ more and more. There is never a point where you can say I know Christ and now I will go do something else. Christ is not a program."

"(About the opening of the holy door) This is a great opportunity that God is offering us: let us all welcome it. A few days ago, I was in Loreto with Don Oreste Benzi and three elderly priests who were celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of their ministry. One of them said: 'The year 2000 is coming: what do you want to change? Don q:it:Oreste Benzi looked at us and replied: “There are five of us: if we five change, a lot will change”. So, we must take these words as an example: each of us can do something, each of us can give a little light, because each of us is an open window through which God's light can pass."

"(About In vitro fertilisation) Let us look at how it is written, how the architecture of life is conceived. Looking at birth, at the conception of human life, we see that the human cell is composed of 23 chromosomes, which come from the father's genetic heritage, and 23 chromosomes, which come from the mother's genetic heritage, forming the human cell, which has 46 chromosomes. And all this composition takes place in the act of love that unites the father and mother, the future father and the future mother. This is written in the book of life; this is certainly the architecture of life, as conceived by the one who gave life. And even if someone wanted to say that there is no one who gave life, they must nevertheless admit that this is the architecture. So, faced with this reality, I ask myself: do we want to disrupt this plan? Do we want to disrupt this architecture? Does man have the right to disrupt this architecture? Is it possible that he can shatter this architecture to make life a laboratory product? Such a leap jeopardises the whole meaning of conception and, consequently – because an initial error has subsequent repercussions – the whole meaning of the human journey through life. We say: be careful! A mistake made at the beginning will ultimately have tragic consequences. I would add that today many people, even non-believers, are rediscovering ecology. That is excellent. What is ecology? It is the recognition that in nature – we say in creation – there are laws. And if man violates these laws, there is a repercussion, almost a rebellion of nature, because it has laws within itself. So are there no laws, no clear signs at the most important moment of human life, which is the conception of human life? And will breaking those laws, violating those laws, not have dramatic repercussions on the very life of the unborn child?"