Roman Catholic Bishops

"Women are already doing the work of ordained deacons in many places, so I don't see why such a reality can’t be acknowledged. I believe this is only a matter of power."

"I'm not charismatic in the classical sense. I have a certain passion for life, and I think people sometimes use the word "intense" to describe me."

"Being myself a Father of the Council, I experienced personally the solidarity and collegiality which we felt as we kept on voting on the "aggiornamento" of the Church. The kind of Church which is pictured in the Council documents evidently is a church of communion with a leadership of service, the ideal of a more decentralized and open Church, with intimate relationships between clergy and laity."

"If the regime remains in power, I do not see that the Catholic Church could have a future in China other than that of a persecuted Church"

"Evangelicals grew particularly in the suburban areas and in regions of recent deforestation and rural occupation by migrants. We're not as fast as those churches and we haven't been able to secure our presence in those areas. We always noticed a sentiment of abandonment by the people in the region. They usually tell us that they joined the church that was available."

"Protecting the environment is a calling not just for laypeople but also for bishops and priests. Please, I beg you, our environment is our real wealth. Let us not destroy it."

"American aid will end and we'll still be poor."

"There is the sense here that a saint has died."

"However important building this cathedral was, we Christians are called to understand that we are the building and that all together we are building upon our lives, upon the house of community, gathered in one Church to the end of times. We Christians are also a growing field and no one knows what fruits it will yield. Everything will be evident one day. We can only believe that the building will be stable and habitable."

"I keep moving between peace and terror, especially when I look at the future only known to God. Trust is an easy word, but difficult to live. I find it hard to believe that the Lord wants me to do this, I pray that I do not disappoint him too much."

"The Church's horizons extend throughout the whole world, and she is responsible for all individuals and their salvation. The grace of God is conveyed by the individual churches to all the rest, with the ecclesial community being the sign and blessing in this respect. The 500th anniversary of the missionaries who founded the Church in America and made her flourish requires us to accept a missionary approach towards every believer and every institution."

"I still remain a Ugandan, but in the family of the Catholic people in South Africa. So, it is just sharing that we have come to share our faith with the people of Southern Africa."

"The way I look at vulnerable people, and my understanding of humanity has changed. For me, this is no longer just an assignment that I was given by the other Bishops in Southern Africa. This is now my vocation."

"I joyfully greet you all with prayer in my heart. May nothing be more important to us than Christ! My thoughts, heart and prayers go first and foremost to all families – mothers, fathers, and children. I want us to seek, find, recognize, and follow the Messiah together."

"Kerygma is a very important moment. If however kerygma is not followed by a true formation in listening to the Word in the bosom of the community of faith, there is a risk of falling into the various moralisms, or flowing into different types of fanaticism or other sorts of subjective interpretation."

"For me, my most ardent desire has been to help people come to know, love and live Jesus more completely at a time when secular influences sometimes make it difficult for people to hear and be receptive to the Gospel. That is why I have been especially grateful to serve as a diocesan bishop, because the needs of our people are so great, as are the opportunities to serve them more effectively."

"The parish is the most important element of the Church; that's where Christian Catholic life gets its source and energy."

"In our parishes, what people first need to do is pay attention to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and ponder what it teaches and try to live it. That’s where you start. What does Jesus teach us? Love God with your whole being, and love your neighbor as yourself. He tells us that our neighbor is everybody! So people — Black and White, African-American or European-American — you start with Jesus of Nazareth."

"Our country produced many such witnesses and martyrs to the faith, who are still with us today — speaking to us in our lives and giving us fortitude to face the future."

"A year of changed regime has brought neither social nor economic security, the situation is still precarious."

"Let's go ahead in this rapprochement. And the Pope comes precisely to help us always feel part of a family, even if there are somewhat different manifestations of faith, but everyone must be aware of being children of God."

"Very early on, evangelization in this country took on different faces with different actors. But the first to walk the paths of our savannas and forests proclaiming the God News to our people were the catechists. They opened up the road of Evangelization."

"One must decide to share in an effective and participating way the life of the poor who form most African populations. It is obvious that I am not talking about setting in poverty which is not wanted by God and is fought against, but rather of a simple, sober life, shared and done with beneficial deprivations."

"Missionaries have always sought to make both men and women aware of their dignity and role in society."

"I came into a place I did not know. I had to learn everything. I'm at a place that I know the area, and I know a lot of people, and I know the job, but still, "How can I do it to reach more people, do it better?" So the challenge is still learning."

"Even in the Church of Turkey there is room for everyone, and I will be one of them all. I will try to serve everyone. In Turkey the Church is small but rich in cultures, languages, colours and now has a Turkish bishop who will try to keep all these elements together."

"Religious life can't be understood without projecting good to others. So any project that aims to improve communities can't ignore spiritual growth of the beneficiaries — that union of faith and daily activity that helps people become of importance to the community."

"I think each one of us, wherever we are, we are called to serve, and that is what will make us great, not the title."

"Our patience and the patience of our parishioners will be tested. But we cannot let the pandemic win. Our people need access to the Sacramental life of the Church especially now. Together we can make this work."

"Service must be rooted in compassion because it connects our good works to the fabric of our soul."

"We need never be afraid to speak the truth. Authentic ecumenism requires that we speak the truth to each other lovingly, and love each other truthfully. Inter-church families must be a special focus of our concern. We ought offer them our friendship, respect their experience and try to find new ways to respond to their needs."

"The "preferential option for the poor," as we said in Catholic language, which is closely linked to the principle of solidarity, is to be understood in a social sense in addition to the economic dimension."

"The time of foreign missionaries is over. Now it's up to us to continue their work."

"The main message that we have is the message of hope. I'm absolutely convinced that what we proclaim is the good news."

"Breath is the essence of life, and yet is it so subtle… The Spirit is also subtle, and mysterious to us, yet He is the breath that is gentle, yet so present, and so powerful because we need Him to have life."

"Man looks for immediate salvation, expects a remedy from the Gospel, an efficient solution to his doubts, to his ailment, to his difficulty, to his suffering, to his sickness today. He believes in future life, in happiness after, but he wants to be happy today. In these sombre moments, it is not easy for him to accept in faith that the Kingdom of God is already there for him as well, because yet he does not understand that the Kingdom of God, the Christ, is in fact the real happiness."

"These applications would bring misunderstanding and scandal. Our diocese is not in a position to apply these suggestions."

"The Lord is the center of our prayer, the rest of us, we are there to adore Him."

"We're trying to prevent terrorism with all this security legislation, and yet we've got five to eight million people living and working among us and we don't even know who they are. How can you have security that way?"

"Our faithful are looking at us, their shepherds, to see how we behave, how we relate toward one another, not only in words but by example. Christ has entrusted us with the task of proclaiming Him credibly by our words and lives."

"We felt our hearts burning, we are ready to go on the road and to continue inviting all our people to live a personal encounter with Jesus Christ in His Church."

"Le silence du peuple est la leçon des rois."

"The priest and bishop who strove to do the Lord's will, is the priest and bishop who thus allowed others to see and believe Jesus."

"What kind of positive future can there be for our society? As far as the government is concerned, none."

"The more this "romanity" is felt in the daily existence of Priests and of the other lay faithful, the more effective will be our contribution towards the building up of the Church in Europe and, from Europe, in the whole world."

"Lives are being transformed, and souls are finding purpose and meaning in their faith, not just learning about faith; they are living it."

"It is said, and rightly so, that Europe must breathe with both lungs: West and East. It is not less true to say that the life of our society must breathe in all aspects with its two lungs: male and female."

"A people that wants peace cannot remain passive in their concern."

"My biggest wish for people this Easter Sunday is peace, hope, and also sharing of that peace and hope with one another. A spirit of unity, and common ground that we all need the love and the promise we all believe Easter Sunday is all about."

"For an authentic realisation of the universality of the Church, the Church needs its African harmonics. The task is not always simple; we must be conscious of our own lacks and weaknesses doubled by the external pressures and doubts. We are invited to reconquer our creative imagination and trust in ourselves in view of a creative action within the faithfulness of Jesus Christ and in communion with he who presides the universal "Agape"."