Roman Catholic Bishops

"In Japan, there is in reality a great need for religious values, there are some faithful who practice two different religions. But the Church is not able to satisfy this thirst for religion because its strategy is mistaken: the Church must not limit itself to teaching Catholic doctrine, faith, and traditions, but must find a way to connect these with the culture and everyday problems of the Japanese, avoiding the fracture between the teaching of doctrine and everyday life in Japan. Obviously, this is an extremely difficult task."

"I always tell young people discerning vocations that, if it is your call, you can expect to enter into a life that is full of joy and serenity of spirit, that the faithful will invite a priest to enter into their lives at a depth that sometimes they won’t even permit their own spouses. That’s not because we have any particular talent; it’s because Catholics look at priests as bringing into their lives the love of Christ and the Church, which will lead them home to a place in heaven."

"I find being a pastor very rewarding. It’s great being close to people, accompanying them in birth and in their final days, being with them in their ups and downs. You participate in the full spectrum of ministering to families"

"Bosnia-Herzegovina is important because it is multiethnic. Its existence was living proof that different peoples can live together, something that transcended its boundaries. Should it disappear, victory would go to those who believe that different peoples either split or clash. Since the world is but a cacophony of peoples, the demise of Bosnia-Herzegovina would be a signal to the world that its own future is one of conflict. With Bosnia-Herzegovina’s death something greater would die as well."

"The pleasing part is not that you say things that people want to hear but that your message is attractive to people and they want to engage it."

"I've always been a happy priest; I plan on being a happy bishop."

"Yes, I think Leo XIV is exactly the Pope the world needs right now. Francis has strengthened the missionary dimension of the Church, seeking to bring the Gospel to all humanity, including sinners, the marginalised, the vulnerable. But I think the least pleasant aspect of his pontificate has been that, in his attempt to reach out to everyone, in terms of doctrine and morals the teachings have not"

"On moral issues, the Church seeks dialogue and offers her views on the implications of the laws that are enacted in the country so that Parliament can make wise and just laws for the good of all. As to whether the law should be repealed, the principle underlying all laws is that the laws enacted must be for the common good on grounds of truth and justice, respecting human dignity and human rights. Laws should not be enacted simply on the basis of current or popular opinion but must be rooted in Truth and the common good. Consequently, Catholics, as individuals and responsible citizens, have an important role to play in voicing their views to the government. We have a duty to speak out and be engaged in the public and social sphere to bring about the common good, which is the sum total of social conditions that promote the flourishing of individuals, family and society. We cannot be silent on issues that affect the lives of all in society and the well-being of society, today and in the future."

"Vatican II spoke so strongly about full, conscious, active participation. That was the primary purpose of liturgical renewal. I think we are really missing out on that. Many people come to the Eucharist without much of an idea what it is about. Nor do they have an awareness of their own call, in virtue of their baptism, to participate in the Eucharist. There are probably four places in the documents of the Vatican Council that talk about the baptized offering the Divine Victim to the Father in the Eucharist. I think that 90% of the baptized people don't really see themselves, in virtue of their baptismal priesthood, as able to offer the Divine Victim to the Father."

"Have a think about your family, your work colleagues, your friendship circle. Think about five people whom you might begin to have a conversation with about your faith in Jesus Christ. It might be somebody who, during this time of the pandemic, has given up the practice of their faith or somebody who’s searching for deeper meaning because of the experience of disease and death in this past year."

"One of the greatest problems in present-day Eucharistic celebration is the temptation to abandon the traditional explanations without proposing appropriate substitutions. It was easy to demolish the past, but explanations have not been suggested that might last longer. The solution of course is not to continue with the guidelines of the past, and beyond renewing exterior forms, we must add new vital sap. The form can change or remain the same, what is important is to have a new justification, with greater vigor and support."

"The politicians who approved this law did not take in to account and did not think about protecting the most vulnerable people: children."

"If we could forgive Ian Smith, a white who had massacred thousands of our fellow blacks, why then do we find it difficult to be merciful and forgive each other as blacks? Let us build a new Zimbabwe with mercy"

"It is depressing that our Middle Belt region has truly become a vale of tears, a region where mass burials are very common!"

"Death is not the end of life. It is an aspect of life. It is a natural incident in the course of life. It is necessary for your evolution."

"I suppose, God’s calling for vocation works in mysterious ways where we cannot put our finger on it. We can’t really explain everything. It is just the draw, the interest. When God calls us, you know it inside. You cannot explain. Even when I joined the seminary, I still could not visualise myself as a priest and only told myself to try. Year after year, before I knew it, I was ready for ordination as a priest."

"From conception to natural death, life is a continuum, for conception is the first moment of humanity, the beginning of a human’s journey through birth to adult life, concluding in old age and natural death. We are always human. At no point are we ever something less or something different. At each moment, we are equipped with the characteristics appropriate to our stage of life. What is inherently a right to humanity – namely the right to life – cannot be either denied or taken away. The right to life must never become of arbitrary value offering least protection to those who are least equipped to defend themselves."

"Catechists have the merit of reaching out to remote villages and become witnesses of the faith among non-Christian natives. With their welcoming lifestyle, they preach the Holy Bible and often people express a desire to receive baptism. Catechists teach children and adults who want to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord. They also help nuns and priests to conduct the liturgy, pastoral care, prayer, works of charity. In remote villages they are the visible presence of the Church. They are those who follow the people or the communities of catechumens preparing for baptism."

"All church leaders agreed that the fears of the church members were not unfounded."

"Renaissance art has always been my favourite subject. The realism involved in it is a challenge for me not only as an artist but also as a priest. Subjects involving human beings have always been my core area of interest."

"I receive this appointment, believing that only grace can realize the keys that I received in my vocation: to live and transmit the Gospel with the sacrifice of my life and my reputation, faithful to the greatest testimony of love, to give up my life together with Christ for our Heavenly Father"

"The truth as given to us by God is the only path to freedom and to peace and to the joy that we are seeking. For us, to convey that truth compassionately is what we do to help others. We are not going to try to help and support others beginning with an error or falsehood. A falsehood cannot bring about peace and happiness in one’s life. While the answer to a problem might be complicated, we cannot begin with that which is untrue, that's not the loving thing to do."

"The stance against abortion is the pre-eminent priority. How could it not be? We have to get it right from the beginning. Our stance on life, that is our pre-eminent priority. We have to fight against this evil."

"You can't give to the people all that you wish to offer unless you're rooted in a deep spiritual life. I was on fire as a young priest, and wanted to conquer the world, which was good, because the priesthood is about service. However, I learned quickly that that enthusiasm must be rooted in a deep prayer life, or it can’t be sustained. It was a great lesson to learn early in my priesthood. I also learned I needed to stay in touch with my priest friends. It's important to have family and lay friends, but you also need contact with your brother priests, who understand from firsthand experience the challenges you face and can help you to become better."

"Buildings are important expressions of our feelings and intentions and provide a common space where we are at home and comfortable, and yet speak of our future. This is especially so with churches, which are extensions of our homes. The sacramental principle is at the heart of Catholicism, and no less so in its buildings."

"I was sure it wouldn't be here because it was my home parish, I received all my sacraments here and I expect I will be buried here. This is a densely populated archdiocese and the work is staggering."

"The Catholic Church, and our Catholic faith, is the answer to this darkness and bringing people into relationship with Jesus and teaching the dignity of the human person are the best ways of changing people’s attitudes and changing their behavior"

"To me it is really beautiful and it really expresses the catholicity of the Church, that the people have embraced the faith as something that is truly theirs, something that is truly meaningful to them. They don't look upon it as something foreign, as something coming from the outside."

"Catholics in Pakistan generally are treated as social outcasts and are not accepted as equals by the Muslim majority. They are poor and illiterate. Education is the key to liberate them from this cycle of poverty and slavery."

"I've had so many incredible experiences and I've been influenced by so many people I've served, I see this as a new chapter. I'm living out something that I'm convinced is what God wants me to do, and living out God's will for me has been the joy of my life."

"I've been through a lot of life's changes, but it's always my faith that I've been able to fall back on; that I draw strength from. I come from a family of Christians, also a long military tradition. So, faith in our family has always sustained us as a family, but also as individuals. It's because of that upbringing, because of that trust, that there is something greater than myself"

"Crimes are born in our minds and in the end are put into practice."

"At this critical moment in the life of the institutional Church I do not see how it is possible for anyone who is well informed regarding the issues that are involved in the controversies surrounding the present pontificate to remain silent. While I have every confidence that the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ will survive the present crisis as Our Lord promised Peter, I am not so sanguine about the number of souls that will be lost as a result of it."

"I have no doubt that the only reason I’m alive today at 92 is because God has work for me to do. I have a message to deliver; God has kept me alive to deliver it."

"I believe being a bishop in Mongolia is very similar to the episcopal ministry of the early Church, the Church is a very small reality, it is a minority but there is this group of Mongolian faithful who have chosen, with great courage and also a sense of responsibility, to follow the Lord and become part of the Catholic Church."

"I believe that a culture that permits abortion cannot be separated from a culture that seeks full control over the gift of life. In recent years, I have the sense that we are walking with our eyes closed into an era of eugenics, unwilling to look where we are going but still continuing on. I know I am not alone in thinking this. Some claim that we have been behind the times in Ireland in regard to abortion. I would argue the very opposite; that upholding the right to life of the unborn is timely and far-seeing."

"My new responsibility is higher, it requires renewed vigour, commitment and strength, the prayers of my brethren are needed. I need your prayers to succeed, I need your prayers to take catholic church and the society to the promised land."

"We have to make sure that we always recognize that we don't own the sacraments, the sacraments are the work of Christ. It is he who comes to us ... and it's his grace that takes precedence over everything else. Therefore we should see in each of those encounters with Christ in the sacraments a sacred experience even beyond our comprehension. And the one, of course, that's the supreme of everything is the Eucharist, because that's when Christ sacrificed on Calvary. We're fed with the same food that the disciples were fed at the Last Supper, and the same blood of the covenant from the cross is given to us. So again, it's Christ who is there, Christ offering the sacrifice. We are with him but it is he who does it all, it is he who feeds us."

"If anything, I am feeling called to pray for joy, a sense of hope and joy in my ministry, because I know that it is going to be difficult, and I know there are going to be many challenges; I know the Church is facing great challenges at present, from many different avenues and what we don’t need is to become mired in, in a sense, the difficulties and the challenges that lie ahead. We are the people of the Resurrection, we are people of hope, and I want that to be a shining light and I realise that, at times, that will be difficult, but that is my prayer, that I can be that for people."

"When you’re asked to be a mediator in a difficult conflict in your parish, being obedient to that call to be the peacemaker. When you are called stand up for some strong truth, a difficult truth, being obedient to your call to the priesthood. When you are called to give your people Mass at a time when it’s inconvenient for you but convenient for them, well, consider that option and be obedient to the call of needs of your people. That is a deeper obedience, your ability to hear God’s will in your vocation."

"I am very aware that I come into a story that began long before I arrived, and I’m honoured that the various signs of my ministry with which I have been invested today belong to that history. I am also aware that the story of this diocese into which I have been called is one that will go on long after my time here as bishop. Ultimately, it is God’s story, in which each of us is privileged to play a part."

"The future of our society depends upon our ability to discriminate between good and evil, right and wrong and what is or is not acceptable behaviour for our society. The notion of discrimination needs to be rescued from the shadows and restored as a positive virtue to be sought and prized. Forms of unjust discrimination based in prejudice and denial of human rights need to be identified and penalised as inappropriate attitudes and behaviours."

"I’d also like to say to our priests: we can’t fail to talk to our people about these real sins that affect the lives of our people. If we talk about sins they don’t commit, of what good is that?"

"I think that with a lot of these institutions, those that have this different worldview have been shrewd, in a sense, in trying to take them over in terms of leadership and then to reorient them to form young people in ways that are contrary. It’s kind of contrary, some of the reaction we’ve gotten is almost like, ‘How could you dare do this?’ It’s as if not only do they have a right to their own vision of the human person and marriage and family life, but we have an obligation to turn our young people over to them to be formed in these values. We’re going to have to be much more vigilant as Christians and as Catholics about with whom we partner and who we invite in, particularly with regard to the formation of our young people."

"Minorities, such as Christians and Muslims are an integral part of the nation and of the social fabric of Indian society. Minorities are protected by the Constitution, I believe that the new government cannot and will not want to go against the Constitution. As Christians we are confident."

"As far as we are concerned, we will continue our pastoral work and the message of Christ through the joyful witness of the Gospel and serving others."

"I feel unworthy to have been chosen by the Lord to be a Priest and then a Bishop, to navigate waters that have become increasingly challenging, yet day by day were filled with so many graces. I thank the Lord, as well as clergy and people, for so many blessings, and ask forgiveness for my failings."

"When you pass legislation that forces people of faith to put aside what they believe, their deeply held beliefs, that’s not going to create any kind of unity. That’s not going to help the society or the culture, it’s not even going to help the people that struggle with these issues."

"The nice thing about working in wood is that even a dead tree, in a way is a living medium. The wood does simply do whatever you want, but you have to cooperate with the kind of medium that it is."

"Peace is the source of well-being and prosperity, and is, therefore, the goal of all political action."