Diplomats Of The Holy See

"The peaceful coexistence among people of different ethnicities, religions, is so important: we are all brothers, sons, and daughters."

"The death of our dear brother in Christ certainly saddens us. But it is also an encouragement for all of us to continue with humility and simplicity in faithful service to the Gospel, always being prepared for the Lord's call."

"Among those stones, which witnessed the incarnation of the Son of God, that intuition was born in Chiara from which infinite horizons would open, which hope to be enlarged and realized by all who have received her legacy."

"The Gospel is always answer and light for everyday human problems, and one of them consists precisely in the excessive disparity between poor and rich who come across each other in very concrete situations in life and society. We Christians cannot be neutral spectators of the needs and of the poverty of others."

"In Paraguay, the social and political scenery remains delicate. It is necessary to work to ensure respect for the common good and the defense of ethics. Pastors are committed to accompanying the Paraguayan people and promoting dialogue for the common good."

"A diplomat's duty is to report to the nation or the state that sends you out, and not to journalists."

"I tried to do my duty and, thanks be to God, I never found myself in danger. Ah, yes, I did it with pleasure, because it was a right thing, and if I had to start over I'd do the same."

"The Church in Cameroon is alive, with a notable religious fervor."

"Those with goodwill will believe us anyway, while the malicious will not believe us even if we publish the figures."

"I like to think, especially during these days when the whole Church is as it were focused on the Eucharistic mystery, that precisely there, on the altar, Cardinal Caprio's life and ministry - the various posts to which the diplomatic service of the Holy See took him - would have found their deepest point of convergence."

"May you encounter a Church that is not only an institution, an institution to be defended, to be protected, which you have wisely done for 500 years now, but also a community, a believing community which has met the living and true Christ, which loves him, and intends to serve him in everyday life."

"The Church is there and will not go away, because its people are there. The mission of priests has become very difficult, but their job is vital, and God is with his Church."

"As the Pope's envoy, I'm going with joy because I'll be meeting God's people there, I'm going with pride because I'm going to meet my brothers from Pakistan."

"Ecumenism is a gift from God, a gift that becomes possible through prayer."

"There are two ways to approach Jesus: with the approach of "the wise" who doubt his words, or with that of simple people, who give witness to the miracles of Christ and have eyes to see the Awaited."

"I bring the Pope's greetings, his Apostolic Blessing and his fervent wish that your nation continues to move forward in peace and stability, on a path of development that may become a model of unity and progress with respect for human rights and the environment whereby all its people can prosper and even the most vulnerable will not suffer marginalization or neglect. And all by remaining faithful in spite of great hardships - to its humane ideals."

"Much courage is needed to make a decision of this importance, and I'm sure that he thought about it very thoroughly. So we ask the Lord to continue to accompany and bless him for the immense good he has done. Meanwhile I lament that in the future we won't have the lucidity and clarity of his teaching as Pontiff, although we will be able to continue to profit from the books, addresses and documents he has left us."

"I got to know Poland, its history and culture, and above all the faith of the Poles, and it immediately made a good impression on me."

"The survival and the new promising flowering of the Catholic Church in Estonia after centuries of marginalization and persecution should also be, notwithstanding her modest size, a reason for joy and for hope for the whole Church of Christ in Europe and the world. The living Christ in his Church can become, as the Estonian Church is showing, even in difficult conditions, an unexpected source of new life and a new springtime of the Church."

"The Holy See's participation in FAO and the reason its action is a priority, must be linked to the vast presence of the Apostolic See in multilateral diplomatic activity, in the desire to affirm the fundamental value of human coexistence. Respect for man's dignity is made concrete by ensuring that each person is guaranteed the right to food security. And, to accomplish this, not only is technical action needed, but also a vision open to sharing, and even more so to concrete solidarity."

"A loud call goes out to the entire Christian world to continue to heed the message of St Paul, Apostle of the Nations, who spoke and wrote to the Corinthians, the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Colossians, the Thessalonians, the Jews and the Romans in his time, and continues today to speak to the Nations on every continent."

"He gave the witness of a particularly intense and competent commitment both from a pastoral and organizational, and an artistic-cultural point of view, endeavouring to restore spiritual vitality to the entire complex and new zeal to the ecumenical vocation of that place of worship."

"I believe that if this war remains, this strong sense of the communion of people against the conflict and in favor of peace and necessary progress in such a poor country is also created."

"Dialogue between the belligerents is not easy, although this is the path to follow. Furthermore, the international community should work harder to bring peace back to the country and put it back on the path to democracy, with the contribution and participation of Sudanese people."

"Dialogue, that is the life of faith of the Christian, is not a matter of consciousness or of "self-consciousness" of the faith. That is just another affirmation of self, it is not the life of Christians. The life of Christians is Jesus. Those who engage in dialogue don’t have the "immediate" purpose of converting their interlocutor, but have the desire in their hearts of maybe one day kneeling together before Jesus with their interlocutor."

"It has been a work in progress (the Lord gently leading) that I have noticed ever since I lost interest in being either a cowboy or a fireman. My image of the priesthood has grown with me and continues to grow."

"The monastery is a house of prayer, study, and hospitality, a place in which they can await the return to Christ, the Spouse, in order to participate in the Heavenly Banquet."

"The Pope spoke to us about the political, scientific, religious dimensions, constituent of modern humanism, and hoped that governors, the men of science and thought, and the spiritual guides of the great non-Christian religions should be the Magi of today. In the aforesaid challenges Benedict XVI has a supreme responsibility, and he undertakes it in an admirable way, with much science and much wisdom."

"Jesus Christ and His Church are our life, our passion; in Him and in Her we wish to grow ever more ourselves and help others to grow. This growth is the goal of the new evangelization and of the Ad Gentes mission."

"Tonight, we pay tribute to the first missionary, her faith in the Annunciation leads Mary to visit Elizabeth, with the announcement of Christ... The event that had taken place deep inside her becomes a message that is "broadcast" as news."

"My wish for you is that you may persevere in the Christian faith. It is true that you are but a small group. However, do not forget that you are in communion with the one universal Church, the Church of Rome, and the Holy Father. In the two months since my arrival in Bangkok, I have come to know this Church well enough to appreciate it."

"I think this moment requires everyone to pray for peace, and not to put ourselves one against the other, but to work for national unity. Christians do not feel adequately protected, but they understand the difficulties in preventing acts of terrorism. In seven days the Coptic Orthodox will celebrate Christmas. I hope that this Christian community may celebrate the holiday in tranquility, peace and joy."

"Patience is needed to travel this path at a pace dictated by the Heart of the disciples, by the Heart of the Church. It is patience that the Vicars of Christ, the Bishops, are called to cultivate and here we see how difficult the episcopal mission is."

"Society is evolving rapidly and so are the conditions in which people live their faith. I am sure that the Church in Zimbabwe will be able to profit from its rich history and the faith, commitment, professionalism, and zeal of so many Priests, religious and lay people in order to face creativity in the new times that are ahead of us."

"We firmly believe that the contribution of the social doctrine of the Church and of the Pope's Magisterium can offer support even in a pluralistic society such as that of today."

""Stop" is the cry expressed by the Church in the name of abused humanity. The United States must also stop and I think it has the strength to do so. It must re-establish respect for human beings and return to the family of nations, overcoming the temptation to act on its own. If it does not stop, the whirlwind of horror will involve other peoples and will lead us ever more to the abyss."

"Good local and regional governance, is indeed the "conditio sine qua non" for local and regional authorities to faithfully keep to their mission of serving the common good of the communities."

"I think we must identify the principal object and to focus all available means in this one direction. Our objective is to announce Christ and help people -Catholics included - to believe and live the Gospel. We must transmit hope based not on human objectives, social, economic etc. This hope must be based on the concrete person of Christ. This may seem obvious but it will do no harm to recall that every bishop must transmit solely the model of Christ. Clearly today especially in countries with serious economic, social and political problems - like many Latin American nations - the Church's ministry much reach every human sphere and offer concrete answers, but what kind of answers? On what must they be based? When the Church's mission becomes confused with earthly goals, economic, political or social, the Gospel ceases to be effective. Men cease to be effective!"

"We want to propose a Christianity, a Christian life, which is not closed in on itself or self-referential but is open to society, to the Kingdom of God."

"Migrants expect orientation from the Church and a response to the great questions about Christian faith, human comfort and support capable of restoring hope and meaning to their lives. The missionary journey which we intend to undertake in this third millennium should be based on evangelization and the testimony of charity. Do not forget that Christian charity has a great evangelizing force in the measure in which it leaves the sign of God's love among men."

"We can activate people to love their country, family, and not go in search of adventure goodness knows where. This has to do with conscience. A person who loves his country, parents, environment, prefers to stay. I believe this is rather a problem of the state, which does not offer opportunities to so many young people after finishing their studies. And here there is truly a growing social injustice."

"During the past decades, the Holy See has been making all possible efforts to establish, strengthen or restore dialogue on the cultural and religious levels and in the social and humanitarian sphere. I'm absolutely convinced that life under the guidance of the Gospel would in itself make an important contribution into forming the society and culture, which simultaneously assists personal development and encourages an intense and constructive dialogue with other authentic cultures and religions."

"If the Church still has a glimmer of rationality, it must elect Pope Peter Parolin. It is the only way to restore its authority."

"The Arab Spring was a complex phenomenon which, unfortunately, did not achieve the goals of greater democracy and social justice that seemed to be its driving forces. However, it is legitimate to ask how much the pursuit of particular economic and geopolitical interests contributed to this failure at the international community level."

"There are many martyrs in Latin America because, starting from their choice to follow Jesus Christ, priests are willing to get their hands dirty and expose themselves in defence of the faithful entrusted to them and for the great values of justice and solidarity."

"If military spending were used for other purposes, a fund could be set up to help millions of people who are dying for peace."

"It is not only its location on the edge of Europe that makes Eastern Europe important, but also its historical role in civilisation, culture and the Christian faith. Some point out that when St John Paul II imagined a Europe stretching from the Atlantic to the Urals, he was not thinking of ‘Western expansionism’, but of a more united whole encompassing the entire continent."

"+As quoted in Festival delle religioni: card. Parolin, «Fondamentalismo è sconfitta di fede e ragione», toscanaoggi.it (April 27, 2019)"

"Fundamentalism is always a sign of the desperation of reason and the defeat of faith."

"We are representatives of the Holy Father, but this corresponds to dialogue with the Catholic Church,"