Catholics From Italy

"Ladies and gentlemen, you will find in your prseence a great body of men who, with many courage and the true Christian spirit, have bound themselves together for the great cause of temperance. Follow their example, for the cause of temperance means the cause of Christian perfection and the cause of suffering humanity. Should you, however, not find it convenient to join their ranks, at least help their cause by your prayers and your constant co-operation. Gentlemen of the Total Abstinence Union, we admire your spirit of self-abnegation in professing the great virtue of total abstinence, and we appreciate your efforts in encouraging it both by words and example. Your associations are of paramount importance for the spiritual and temporal welfare of our people, and are, consequently, of great service to religion and society."

"The missionary mandate to evangelise brings with it profound social implications of the charity of proclamation and solidarity. The soul of this ecclesial charity is the Eucharistic Body of the Lord which makes the Church and unites the earthly people with the heavenly Church of the saints. In the liturgy, her action among peoples, the Church has always exercised a special mission, that of accessibility of liturgical forms for disciples of the innumerable human cultures."

"I hope for white smoke this evening. (May 8, 2025 at 11:01 a.m.)"

"(Visitng the Shrine of the Virgin of the Rosary of Pompei) The world expects much from the new pope, both in terms of a religious revival and because the world is troubled by a very serious problem, that of war in many countries. The war between Ukraine and the Russian Federation is having consequences throughout Europe. And then there is Gaza, the land where Christ was born and where the land itself cries out for peace, but peace is not there. We are going through a difficult time for humanity. And we hope that there will now be a recovery."

"(From the homily during the Missa Pro eligendo Romano Pontifice) The liturgical texts of this Eucharistic celebration, then, invite us to fraternal love, to mutual help and to commitment to ecclesial communion and universal human fraternity."

"Interviewer: What was Wojtyla's role in the defeat of communism?"

"Deprived for some time of the outward and, so to speak, "commercial" aspects, it is a time of special grace. Indeed, sins need God's forgiveness above all, but then also a purification, to be carried out here below, or, after death, in purgatory. Sacramental absolution in confession removes guilt and restores friendship with God, but there remains the duty of purification of the negative imprint left by the evil done and of reparation. This is the indulgence, through which we draw from the treasure of the Church, that is, from the merits acquired from Christ, Our Lady and the Saints. The indulgence can only be obtained once a day and can also be applied to our deceased loved ones by helping them in their purification process."

"Cardinal Re: I had been in the Secretariat of State for eight years. With us was a Polish priest, Monsignor Jozef Kowalczyk. Four days after he was elected, he brought me the first homily written in Polish by John Paul II and translated into Italian by Poles, asking me to review it. I read and reread that text'."

"I hope that when I return to Rome this evening, I will find white smoke. I am particularly pleased to be here at the beginning of the Conclave so that the Holy Spirit may blow strongly and the Pope that today's Church and today's world need may be elected. [The new pope] must first of all seek to strengthen faith in God in our world characterised by technological progress but, spiritually speaking, we have noticed a certain ‘forgetting of God’. There is a need for a reawakening."

"I was on the terrace of the Secretariat of State, with colleagues and Archbishop Agostino Casaroli. His first line was: "Never would I have thought that the conclave would choose a cardinal from a diocese beyond the Iron Curtain!" We all asked him many questions, and Casaroli explained that he was a "man of vision". He concluded: he will bring novelty, but he will be a good Pope."

"Only by following Christ and accepting his teaching can we find adequate ways and criteria for building a future of unity and justice, the civilisation of love and peace."

"The lack of ideals is what leads to emptiness and boredom. That is why, dear young people, I encourage you not to postpone life's fundamental decisions. When the Lord calls us, He also gives us the strength and the grace necessary for responding to the responsibilities that will be placed on our path."

"He quickly saw that the question must be considered not merely in relation to present politics but also in relation to the past history of Ireland, and he delayed his final report in order to consider the question in this broader aspect. Meanwhile the Holy See issued its condemnation of the Plan of Campaign. Persico returned to Rome much disappointed."

"(Regarding the resignation of Benedict XVI) We must agree that the gesture made by the Holy Father is to be appreciated without but and without if. I say this by reminding everyone of the courage, the serenity shown towards such an important choice. A choice certainly matured in all conscience in silence and meditation. Only in this way, in a continuous and intense dialogue with God in prayer, did the Pope choose. And it must be appreciated for the high sense of responsibility shown, even in a circumstance such as this, which is undoubtedly extraordinary."

"In Australia, as in Great Britain and Italy, Dr. Torreggiani always wore the habit of his order. His first visitation of his straggling and difficult diocese occupied three years."

"Convinced that the great need of her times was a better instruction of young girls in the rudiments of the Christian religion, she converted her home into a school where at stated intervals she daily gathered all the little girls of Desenzano and taught them the elements of Christianity. It is related that one day, while in an ecstasy, she had a vision in which it was revealed to her that she was to found an association of virgins who were to devote their lives to the religious training of young girls. The school she had established at Desenzano soon bore abundant fruit."

"We often forget this network of good health agents that can be of great help to families in difficulty."

"We come to forget that what counts is the divine action of the Spirit, of Grace, not that of man, whether he be the individual believer, the community or the Minister himself."

"Historically, primacy has never excluded synodality, nor has synodality excluded primacy."

"Too often, in culture as in life, the concept of consciousness, that is, a person's ability to recognise the truth and decide to follow it, is confused with the ultimate peremptory nature of subjective demands. [...] It is the confusion surrounding the false concept of autonomy that causes such profound confusion in today's culture, according to which a person is considered happier the closer they feel to doing what they want. [...] There is a reason for being that is stronger and more resistant than any human construct. Recognising this reality in itself and bowing gratefully to it is the most moral act we can perform."

"The silence of conscience, through neglect and abandonment, can cause instinctiveness to be mistaken for spontaneity, wishful thinking for relevance, injustice for justice, death for life, selfishness for love. [...] However, at the very moment when the Magisterium is eradicated from conscience, without realising it, it is already being replaced by a substitute."

"The Church is not a political republic. It is a spiritual reality incarnated in time, and does not respond to purely human criteria. The important thing is always to find someone capable of guiding God's people at a given moment in history. I have known Pope Leo XIV for a short time, through a few personal encounters. He is always kind, attentive to issues, and thoughtful. My overall and immediate impression is of a serene man, that is, reconciled with himself because he is centred on Christ. I believe this is the best prerequisite for living such a great responsibility."

"Modernity has identified the theme of conscience as one of its most emblematic frontiers. [...] Too often, in culture as in life, the concept of conscience, that is, the ability of a person to recognise the truth and the decision to follow it, is confused with the ultimate peremptory nature of subjective opinion."

"The full happiness of the Church, which comes from Christ, does not fail even in the face of our betrayals."

"Italy is heading towards a slow demographic suicide because "over fifty per cent of families today are childless, and among those that do have children, almost half have only one, the rest have two, and only 5.1 per cent of families have three or more children. There is an urgent need for a child-oriented policy that immediately takes responsibility for a balanced generational change."

"The main challenges facing the Church in Asia in her pastoral care of migrants are: violation of human rights; language difficulties; social injustice and economic unbalance; interreligious dialogue; consider migrants not as objects of evangelisation but as the subjects of mission."

"There are no dogmas of faith and there are no dogmas of any kind when it comes to social practices. This issue must also be addressed with a single intention, a single objective: we must evaluate this question in a proactive manner because any decision, any way of dealing with Article 18, must aim to create jobs, otherwise it is useless."

"Work is a special part of those indispensable conditions that a truly human society must guarantee so that everyone can not only survive and live, but even more so, fulfil themselves according to God's plan."

"Immigration is a reality. We need to combine the principle of welcoming others, which has always been at the heart of our country, with another principle that is just as important: legality, which everyone knows is needed for society to work."

"(About Italy) The unity of the country remains an indispensable achievement and anchor. Any desirable reform, starting with federalism, must take into account the historical roots of unity and consistently evolve it for the good of all in order to be beneficial."

"It is clear that the state itself needs a people, but the people are not such by virtue of the state; they precede it in that they are not a sum of individuals but a community of persons, and a true and reliable community is always spiritual and ethical in nature; it has a soul. This is its backbone. But if the soul becomes corrupt, then the unity of the people becomes fragile, and the state weakens and loses its shape. When can this happen? When the awareness of common values and cultural identity is obscured. Talking about cultural identity does not mean withdrawing or closing oneself off, but rather not disfiguring one's own face: without a face, it is impossible to meet, to get to know each other, to respect each other, to correct each other, to walk together, to work towards the same goals, to be a “people”. The state cannot create this unity, which is pre-institutional and pre-political, but at the same time it must be careful to preserve it and not damage it. It would be short-sighted and irresponsible to attack what unites us in the name of any perspective."

"The Church does not promote itself, but serves humanity with God's love."

"I began at once to visit the places where the new establishments were to rise, and I saw what an abundant harvest the Lord prepared for us."

"Don Bosco organized his first missionary enterprise. The heroic band was composed of ten priests and coadjutor Salesian Brothers and fifteen Sisters of Mary, Help of Christians. Don Cagliero (now a prince of the Church), a favorite disciple of Don Bosco, whom he had never left from the age of thirteen, and who had become one of the most learned and saintly sons of the Society, was appointed the director of the mission."

"The problem of our cultural identity, which for us clearly has religious and Christian roots, is certainly a very important question today. And we are seeing so increasingly."

"God surpasses our measurement unit and surprises it, not in an abstract way, but in the Child laid in a manger."

"Verbum Caro: the son of God chose flesh and even flesh "in bad shape" like mine."

"England is great in the esteem to which it upholds the law, contrary to that popular proverb "perfida Albion," which is now proved wrong."

"The Pope would be ready to sign an agreement with China tomorrow, if China so wished. The political problems could be resolved. Indeed, there already are technical solutions. There is no issue to separate us."

"Many elements of the African culture are falling, following the, impact with so-called advanced modernity. They will continue to be unconfoundable elements of the African soul which will remain, and will be the basis for encounter with faith in Christ."

"Care for the salvation of souls cannot be separated from the commitment to safeguard the health of bodies."

"In our economy, it would seem that everything is done in connection with being able to pay the external debt, of satisfying foreign creditors, without thinking of those who are in the country, who are the ones who suffer the consequences."

"Joachim cannot be reduced to that of an outstanding scholar or researcher, but to his adherence to the faith, understood and expressed ascetically."

"The family is the most efficient school of humanity of Christian life, transmitting human and Christian values in its own peculiar manner, based on example and testimony, on experience and daily life."

"It is no small thing to have the witness of fraternal life offered by a community of priests, also for the lay faithful. Besides the care they show, both from the point of view of charity, and from the point of view of pastoral care of the poor, which is a characteristic of the parish ministry of the Church."

"“In most cultures in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, dancing groups in traditional costume is used in the most important celebrations of the people’s life. These dances can also express the joy, happiness and unity of the people during Mass. There is no better way to build Christian community through the Holy Eucharist, the center of the Church.”"

"We renew our commitment to serve the Church and the country which means operating, in fidelity to Christian values, concrete solidarity for the poor and the needy; working to promote peace and to defend the fundamental rights of every human person."

"The Christian godfather must guarantee the child's education and upbringing in the faith and how can he do that if his life is in contradiction of the gospel, if it is violent and totally ruled by the god money. There is a total incompatibility here and we've got to be clear about that."

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

"Old and new mafia forces try to pollute popular faith with malignant weeds, passing off a pseudo religion as devout."