Roman Catholic Bishops

"It is possible to live as Christians in Israel, only if we really want to integrate ourselves into society we must be strong and courageous and not become ghettoized. We help young people to form a clear, fearless, open Christian identity."

"Thousands of communities meet on Sunday not for the Eucharist but for a service of the Word. We cannot allow this situation to continue. If the faithful and the priests become used to this wound in our faith life, they will give up looking for solutions. We vehemently oppose other distortions of our faith; therefore we must reject this one as well."

"Justice can only serve Truth: this is written on the palace of Justice in Bratislava. Courageous and honest Slovak men have fought throughout history for this justice. I do not ask for mercy: I simply appeal to the Truth, to the Law and to Justice. The injustices I have personally experienced can be forgotten. But I can never renounce Truth and Justice."

"Today Slovakia is an independent nation. But it experienced two world wars and its people, especially its Christians – were the victims of one of fiercest Communist persecutions from 1948 to 1989 when the regime collapsed. Bishops, clergy and laity were imprisoned, religious orders suppressed, diocesan seminaries closed, and Catholic organisations and press banned. Those were years of barbarism and terror. In 1989 we found our freedom once again."

"Just as universal respect for "human rights" is frequently and rightly insisted upon in secular life today, we should also ensure that we satisfy the rights of the faithful with at least equal if not greater insistence. Jesus Christ has granted these rights to them, and in giving himself to them, he wants them to stay with him."

"If we can take care of our problems, then we don't need the bases and we won't even need the compensation."

"In France, for several years, more and more catechumens — of all origins, all ages, all conditions, all religions or estranged from the faith –, ask for Baptism. I discovered in these persons' journey to what point Divine Mercy is at work. The great link occurred to me between the Divine Mercy and the whole journey of these men and women, at once profoundly desirous of knowing God, of experiencing His infinite Mercy, which gives strength."

"He was a Jesuit cardinal, persecuted by the regime, imprisoned, and sentenced to forced labor until he fell ill. When he came to Rome for the Jubilee of the Year 2000, he went to the catacombs and lit a candle for his persecutors, imploring mercy for them. This is the Gospel. It grows in life and in history through humble and patient love."

"Social change, if it is to endure and take place on as wide a basis as possible, can only happen when the people who are the target of change participate in the process from start to finish, have a say in the setting of goals, in the decisions taken to accomplish those goals, in the action on the decisions. It is a common sense insight that social anthropologists make much of but which technocrats and governments in a hurry most often ignore."

"When the two deacons prostrated on the ground, they admitted they are like worms of the earth, totally humble and unworthy before the Lord. But God raised them up as priests and instantly they became like butterflies, beautiful in the sight of God and all people."

"Evangelization in Asia is more challenging than ever due to the revolution in communications technologies and mass media. These innovations vastly expand our potential to reach many more people, but the Church often fails to prioritize its media opportunities, so we miss moments of grace to share the Good News through media."

"We have the men, but we want to be sure we continue to get quality as well as quantity. We are getting vocations, but they think of our own needs. If the missioners from outside had thought of their own needs, we would not have any priests today."

"Gambling makes the poor poorer. How can you uplift the condition of rural areas if the population there engages in gambling, betting whatever little they earn from their farms?"

"Cults usually evolve from what people hear, whether true or not, about a person. You in the media are funny at times, you help create cults and when they emerge, you come back to ask how these cults evolved."

"The Church in Udon Thani has been evangelizing mostly among marginalized people. When I started as bishop, there was only a center for people with leprosy in Khon Kaen. Now there are 30-40 centers for people with various disabilities, leprosy and AIDS, mostly run by nuns. These marginalized people never thought people would care for them and treat them as human beings."

"I've found that when the church struggles, young men decide they might want to be part of the solution. To me, that's a healthy sign. They're called by God, not by me, and God works in his own way."

"We have to help those who have fallen to get up and prevent others who are vulnerable to fall... We will never be able to replace families, but as a Church, we are the family of God, and we must make every effort to create a space in which children are able to feel cared for and protected."

"Catholics are taught to be inclusive instead of superior. That is why, like it or not, tolerance must be the chief characteristic of the church. I want to be friends with anyone. I won't promote inclusivism. Rather, I will visit people and sit with them for a cup of coffee. This is better than just attending formal meetings of the Interfaith Communication Forum."

"Young people and teenagers are the most valuable asset of a nation and should be a major concern of all those who have responsibilities in their formation. One can love children even if one says no to some of their needs. God should be present in homes through daily family prayer, the appreciation of spiritual realities and domestic peace. One should strive to offer important values that give meaning to the effort and sacrifice for the sake of an ideal."

"In some parts of Oceania, it's the secularist mentality that wants to exclude religion from public life. While it's common to all, it's particular to Australia and New Zealand. In other parts of Oceania, it's political instability and corruption in some governments; the breakdown of traditional morays, which creates a vacuum. The old is gone and the new has not emerged. This becomes a great opportunity for the church and confers a great responsibility too."

"I am very hopeful and optimistic because the communist system left a great, great spiritual vacuum in the people. The question is, will materialism fill this vacuum? The Church has to fill it with beliefs, principles and values. The Russians are very kind people, very friendly, very open-minded, but they are searching. If we don't fill them, they will find something else."

"Charity is to love as God loves, to love because God loves and to love what God loves. A joyful community is an appealing community."

"Not enough has been said about the needs of the poorer and more disadvantaged members of society. Poverty has to be an election issue."

"What is required of the Church is a strong exercise of solidarity, each for what he can, but that is a sensitive and effective solidarity. Often we do not realize how much goodness, but also how much evil there is between us."

"A spirituality of communion must permeate all relationships and structures within our parishes and local churches, through a consultation that brings people together, acknowledges the presence of God's Spirit working in the members of the community and assists in responding to those who feel that their voice is never heard in the Church."

"We are close to the Holy Father. We love him and pray for him always. The Pope is our only hope, he is the one who makes his voice heard to defend the rights of Christians in every part of the world. We are close to him at this time of suffering and pray the Lord to accompany him at this time of trial."

"We urgently need to put order in the administration in Haiti, if the country were well organized in ten years it would be rebuilt."

"We do not know whether the relative calm granted us by guerrillas is merely a tactical retreat, to reorganize their files and then attack again. Only time can tell, and that is why we need international protection."

"This place is new to me and people are new. The only advantage I have here is that I can start without prejudices and affiliations."

"I can enjoy guiding efforts without being in charge now. There are a lot of marvelous people here willing to do things. Give them a chance and let them."

"My advice to those who are discerning religious vocation is take the risk, follow your sense of calling and you will know in time how God is calling you. Whether your destination is the priesthood or not, through the process of exploration you will discover the deepest desires of your heart. That is, how God is speaking to you in the depths of your being. You will then be fully able to commit to the sacrifices it takes to enter into priesthood such as family and a particular career."

"Sometimes it's so hard with a lot of people: They think if it is about God, you're not going to get sick. Many times, I tried to explain, yes, God will protect you, but that God also gave you intelligence."

"The missionary vocation is realized in various ways – through prayer, suffering, toil. This is the reality we live in every day, when we are in our churches, when we pray the rosary, when we offer our diseases and sufferings for the mission, linking them with the suffering of Jesus Christ."

"The deserved, necessary and respectful welcome of people who practice other faiths and religions does not mean offering them space for prayers inside churches designed for liturgy and the gathering of Christian communities. They can very well find other spaces and places."

"Parents should instill positive and important values into their children's minds so that families can be evangelizers. This is how Catholic families can be truly involved in spreading the spirit of Christianity."

"He is a figure who never stays silent and always tries to make breakthroughs in his work."

"There are no losers in politics as people normally take it or understand. Those who did not succeed should concede defeat, refrain from straying from the path of peace and accept to work in harmony with the winners while they wait to present their ideals to the voters in the next elections."

"In Araucania there is a complex situation. On the one hand there is a historical debt with the Mapuche people. On the other hand, acts of violence increase and spread, with all the problems that this entails. The regional government is carrying out a worthy job with the referendum among the Mapuche community. This is what was missing and what society needs"

"What we need is moral support to go ahead with the process of peace and reconciliation, to remember all that has happened so it may never happen again"

"We felt at this point in the history of Orissa to explain to the people the historical background of the persecution of the Church, the history of the Christians who for centuries who have been persecuted for bearing the name of Christ and for the faith. The early Church went through great hardships and martyrdom; its members were often persecuted and massacred. But history has shown that persecution ultimately strengthens the Church."

"You have to have a sense of humor. That's the story of my life. As an engineer, I had everything planned until I die. But when I say something, God says different. So I go with God, because he knows better."

"Our first responsibility is really to serve, and sometimes when we think the ship may be going a little bit in the wrong direction, a leader needs to take the hits, and that just goes with it."

"We have come here today as sincere seekers of the truth. We are not coming as prisoners of history and the past but as lovers of the undistorted history of our nation. This is our obligation as faithful Christians."

"In a deformed concept of the Church one cannot in turn discover the authentic face of Jesus and His very personal salvific mission."

"A member of the Church cannot abstain from his political commitment if he wants to be faithful to the command of Jesus to be leaven, salt and light for the society in which he lives."

"Can we find ways to be more open, more receptive and more welcoming to people who don't fit into standard categories? That's the essence of the debate. Some say: You can't adjust the practice without influencing the doctrine. Others say that you can maintain the doctrine and adjust the practice. I would be in the latter category. It's a matter of theological debate."

"Those of us who can speak, must speak; we cannot remain silent. We must change society — especially children — educate them in a different way; these days we don't trust anyone. Many come to ask me for my blessing because they're on their way to the United States and are leaving behind their children, their wives, and we must avoid that."

"Martyrdom in Africa will bear credible testimony when it has that particular courage which enables it to rise above the racial and tribal divides that terrorize this continent."

"Rome is a very rich city of resources to be appreciated not only from the human, but also from the Christian point of view. It is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic city which, however, is in need of a new and stronger proclamation of the Gospel and of open communication with all the realities at the service of the promotion of man, of social life, of ecumenism and of interreligious dialogue."

"The prosecco hills are a resource and need to be defended, but they also need to be respected. Monoculture damages the environment everywhere and it will eventually boomerang on the region. We need to be more responsible."