People From Apulia

"We are here to tell the Ukrainians that we are here, that we are here with them to share their pain, that we are on their side, but at the same time we want to dare to promote peace. We have heard many Ukrainian brothers speak of armed resistance and it is an attitude that can also be understood, but we must not give in to what apparently seems to be the only possible reaction. We must work and reflect on paths of peace that start from active and passive non-violence. Can war be counteracted with non-violence? Can war be countered with non-violence? It is a reflection that must engage us in the coming weeks, in the coming months and also in the coming years. We must return to non-violent conscientious objection against everything that is injustice, corruption, whatever goes against the development of man. Jesus still tells us today: Blessed are the builders of peace."

"Interviewer: In the case of heresy, just as a heretical Christian ceases to be a member of the Church, does the pope also cease to be pope and head of the ecclesial body, and lose all jurisdiction? Mgr. Bux: Yes, heresy undermines faith and membership in the Church, which are the root and foundation of jurisdiction. This is the thinking of the Church Fathers, especially of Cyprian, who had to deal with Novatian, antipope during the pontificate of Pope Cornelius (cf. “'Lib. 4, ep. 2”'). Every believer, including the pope, separates himself from the unity of the Church through heresy. It is well known that the pope is at the same time a member and part of the Church, because the hierarchy is within and not above the Church, as stated in Lumen Gentium (n. 18)."

"The Orthodox – Eastern Christians separated from Rome – are so called precisely because they emphasised the primacy of the true faith as a condition of the true Church. Otherwise, the Church ceases to be the pillar and foundation of truth. Consequently, those who do not defend the true faith fall from every ecclesiastical office, patriarchal, eparchial, etc."

"Interviewer: If there is no confrontation? Mgr. Bux: I fear that apostasy will deepen and the schism will widen. [...] The definition of “anti-evangelical” in relation to the death penalty: this definition was made, in a questionable manner, by changing an article of the Catechism of the Catholic Church according to a decidedly historicist view, and it raises a number of problems."

"The authentic unity of the Church is achieved in truth. The Church was established by its Founder – He who said, ‘I am the truth’ – as ‘the pillar and foundation of truth’ (1 Tim 3:15)."

"In a de-Christianised world, without Jesus, without God, it is useless to defend “values”, as they derive from the encounter with Christ. Dostoevsky said that if God does not exist, everything is permissible. There is no ethics without ontology, there are no values without Christ – they would be like Christmas decorations without a tree – and today, said Don Giussani, “the Church is ashamed of Christ”."

"Bishops should...know the social doctrine of the Church and teach it correctly. Another teaching is also to teach the contents clearly and also to hierarchise them. Developing democracy in Europe is less important than defending life and the family. The truth about God, man and the world is the non-negotiable principle of order and social good. This is our way of knowing, loving and serving God."

"The first task that must arise from the moral upheavals of our time is to begin again to live for God, turning to Him and in obedience to Him. From this springs love for our neighbour who, as St Thomas teaches, is our neighbour: for an Italian, this is first and foremost the poor Italian. Otherwise, one gives the impression of being involved in politics."

"Can the Pope propagate his private ideas over those of perennial Catholic truth? No. He is not a private doctor, and it is unthinkable to modify at will or give versions that clash with Catholic doctrine and the deposit of faith, which is not a museum, and even here there would be much to say."

"Interviewer: Better atheists than Christians who hate? Mgr. Bux: I believe that the problem arises when the Pope strays from the script prepared for him and looks up at the audience. My feeling is that certain statements, in addition to a certain self-satisfaction, stem from the annoyance he feels towards the Church. Pope Francis prefers a vision of the Church as an indistinct people rather than one understood in the true sense. He does not realise, however, that he is slipping into a contradictory and Peronist vision, a schizophrenia that clashes with the very idea of mercy that is so widespread and followed. [...] Certain assertions, if they fall on weak or uninformed groups, are dangerous and have deleterious effects. We risk emptying the churches even more."

"The Church is worldly when it follows the fashions of thought and action of the world in various areas of human life, rather than orienting the world toward eternal realities. What is worldliness, after all, if not conforming to the mentality of the present age?"

"St. Basil in his “'Moralia”' opens with a strong recommendation to ‘those who believe in the Lord’ to do penance. He states that those who do not comply with this fundamental duty will suffer a more severe punishment than those who lived before the proclamation of the Gospel: he is convinced that the transition from the Old to the New Covenant entails an increase in responsibility for those who profess to be Christians."

"(Regarding Summorum Pontificum for Holy Mass and the liturgy in Latin) What person of common sense would think that following traditional cuisine is contrary to innovative cuisine? Yet ideology is such that it denies reality: many young people and adults are rediscovering the faith (often discovering their vocation) by participating in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite. This evidence is denied: it is always ideology. Anyone who wanted to annul the motu proprio would find themselves facing a great movement of resistance, an antagonistic Church, a growing and irrepressible reality, for the simple fact that it experiences the reform of the liturgy as a rebirth of the sacred in hearts, not as a spasmodic search for novelty drawn from current fashions."

"Is it not clearly visible the succession of words and actions of priests who contradict other priests, of lay people who oppose other lay people, encouraged by the division among bishops on what constitutes the Catholic faith and morality? For a growing number of Catholics, the magisterium is no longer a sign of unity: it is well known, in fact, that one cannot invoke magisterial authority unless one first adheres to Catholic truth."

"In the Church, except for the Lord Jesus Christ, nothing is irreversible, because it is ‘semper reformanda’ (always reforming). This allows us to proceed with zeal and without fear of obstacles."

"God had spoken many times and in many ways... finally, He spoke through His Son Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, who is the only one through whom man can be saved. The Church must return to celebrating the Holy Sacrifice, not a festive dinner, in order to have the authority to admonish man to make sacrifices. The world is an altar on which the sacrifice of Christ is offered every day, to which are added the sufferings of many, especially the innocent. The antidote to moral collapse is sacrifice."

"The Church is not just any people, but the people gathered from the four winds, those who recognise God as Father, confess the Son Jesus Christ, and have been baptised in the Holy Spirit. That is why it is called the ‘people of God’. The Church must be concerned above all with souls, inviting them to conversion in view of eternal salvation. This is the work of Redemption."

"The commandant, the archbishop, and his clergy, were singled out for the most horrible of all deaths, and sawn asunder. Need it be added, that they who revelled in cruelties so truly diabolical, spared not the altars of God, or the images of the saints, or aught that was holy and venerable."

"Providence decides. I have tried to respect faithfully Padre Pio's wish."

"As pertaining to the Church's public charity, we must underline the following: in the relations of the Catholic Church with the States and with the European Union we believe that one must certainly overcome confessionalism as well as hostile laicism. The prospect of healthy laity must become ours, which involves recognizing that society needs the contribution of religious professions to ensure its ethical-cultural foundations."

"The situation is complex and this complexity must be understood and respected. But too often in Italy I have heard speeches that excuse war. This also happens in the Catholic world, where instead I would like to see a tension, a passion for the gospel message of peace that I don't see all too often."

"I will bring with me wonderful memories of the Filipino people who, in spite of their many hardships and trials, remain resilient supported by resolute faith in God. They do not ask God to provide only for their materials needs but rather to abandon themselves to Him as their Father. They believe that God is greater than all their needs."

"By the prayers of the Church, your journey – at this moment painful for us – will finish at the gates of the heavenly home where the merciful father already awaits you."

"I saw destruction everywhere but people were ready to start again with their faith."

"Men servasse ut essent qui me perderent?"

"Fortunam insanam esse et caecam et brutam perhibent philosophi, ... Insanam autem esse aiunt quia atrox incerta instabilisque sit; caecam ob eam rem esse iterant quia nil cernat quo sese adplicet; brutam quia dignum atque indignum nequeat internoscere. Sunt autem alii philosophi qui contra Fortunam negant esse ullam sed temeritate res regi umnes autumant. Id magis verisimile esse usus reapse experiundo edocet."

"Adulescens, tam etsi properas te hoc saxum rogat Ut sese aspicias, deinde quod scriptum est legas. Hic sunt poetae Pacuvi Marci sita Ossa. Hoc volebam nescius ne esses. Vale."

"Patria est, ubicumque est bene."

"Conqueri fortunam advorsam, non lamentari decet; id viri est officium, fletus muliebri ingenio additust."

"O flexanima atque omnium regina rerum oratio!"

"Flucti flacciscunt, silescunt venti, mollitur mare."

"Fifty years ago for several days the body of Luisa Piccarreta passed throughout Corato. The testimony of this evening suggests that her name is still alive among you and I would like it to be alive even in the whole diocese, because it is a glory for Corato but it is also a glory of the diocese. I wish that all of us could start to fall in love with this figure, meditating a little of her life."

"An administrator has to be trustworthy, so the administrator is not the master, the administrator is not a slave who cannot decide anything, the administrator is somebody who has responsibility under somebody who stay over him and we know over us is Jesus Christ, so I invite you in your different responsibilities in the church to remember that we are administrators, not the masters."

"The proof of holiness for the Church is precisely small actions performed each day. The holiness of the "saints next door" is that lived every day by Christians who, in every part of the world, bear witness to Jesus' love and risk their own lives without ever taking into account their own particular interests."

"Two years of pontificate have amply demonstrated that the expectations of the Christian people have not only not been disappointed, but that Benedict XVI's Magisterium, rich in light, and his ministry, fruitful with grace, have opened new horizons of hope not only for the Church but for all mankind."

"Our prayer today is a sign of vitality and communion in the Church. In a change of epoch, full of hardships and historical facts that have shocked us, we want to testify, as Benedict repeated several times at the beginning of his pontificate, that the Church is alive, she is alive because Christ is alive, he is truly risen."

"I recognise a mistake that has been made in recent years, and which continues today: political, economic, social, housing and employment decisions, if made on the basis of profit and personal gain, end up hurting the most vulnerable. You cannot pay people less and less and then be surprised that they have become impoverished."

"Q: What should be the priorities of the next pope? A: It will be important to continue along the two paths traced by Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. The first concerns the presence of God in society. The relationship between man and God must once again become central. Imbalances arise when one of the two terms of the relationship is eliminated. It is no coincidence that John Paul II observed that a world without God would be against man. The second path concerns man in contemporary society: we need to understand who man is and work in such a way that the body, psyche and spirit – three essential dimensions – are not neglected."

"The people need to feel loved first of all, and then to have some material aid."

"The Divine Will contains the creative strenght. From within God's one single "Fiat" came out billions and billions of stars. From the Fiat Mihi" of the Mother of God, from which Redemption had its origin, came out billions and billions of acts of grace, which communicate themselves to souls. These acts of grace are more beautiful, more resplendent and more varied than billions of stars! The Divine Fiat is full of life, and in fact It is life itself, and alla lives and things come out from within the Fiat. From the Fiat of God, Creation came out, and in each created thing can be seen the imprint of that Fiat. From the "Fiat Mihi" of the Blessed Virgin, pronounced in the Divine Will with the same power of the Fiat of Creation, Redemption came forth. Therefore everything that concerns the Redemption bears the imprint of her "Fiat Mihi".Even the very Humanity of her Son, His steps, works and words, were sealed with Mary's "Fiat Mihi". (p. 107)"

"Creatures had a Celestial Father, but the Divine love was not content. In its delirium of love it wanted them to have a Celestial Mother as well as a terrestrial Mother. In that way, even if the loving care and tenderness of the Celestial Paternity would not be enough to make creatures to love Him, the caring and tenderness of a Celestial and human Mother would lead them to abandon themselves in her arms. By letting themselves be conquered by her love, a link of connection would form to banish any distance, fear or apprehension, in order to love the One Who had formed her love of them, and in order to be loved Himself. For this, the most astonishing portents were needed, along with a love that never says "enough" and only a God can do."

"Priests must take into consideration the main message of Pope Francis, in which he asks to give life to a Church with a priestly path of holiness and not of perfection."

"The societies are a providential gift to the Church. Let us pray to the Lord of the Mission to help you come out with a clear understanding and plan of our great task of evangelization,"

"Original dispositions of the Creator can never be annulled. Biblical anthropology suggests, therefore, that one must address with an attitude of relationship and not of competition, the problems that at the public or private level affect the differences of sex."

"On the pastoral level, the Cardinal should help the Holy Father as he does as a member of the universal Church."

"The purpose of all the Church's activity is the salvation of souls. The Curia and other institutions are instruments that must be as flexible as possible in the Pope's and Bishops' hands, to take Christ to the ends of the world."

"The human being is open to the Kingdom of God in his nature and the Kingdom of God exists with the purpose of belonging to us human creatures. Our human nature has been made and organised in such a way of being directed, despite the freedom of choice given to us, towards the value of the Kingdom of God, for it is only in that value and through it, that it achieves its utter fullness."

"We are all disciples of Jesus, we are urged not to consider ourselves the owners, dominators of the faith of others. We are servants for the sake of Jesus."

"Catechesis must be experiential, a true accompaniment in the experience of God, not a schooled catechesis where only an indoctrination or a teaching of knowledge is received."

"This small, but great church has given the world church countless martyrs. These were people who had a great loyalty to Christ and the church. Catholicism continued on in Albania. This is thanks to the martyr church."