Roman Catholic Bishops

"Scandal impacts the very sacramentality of the Church and damages our evangelizing mission. Of course, we must also remember that evangelization is always two-way, like breathing in and breathing out."

"We should definitely consider pastoral action aimed at holiness. The saints represent models of authentic conversion; people who, having actually experienced a living and personal encounter with Jesus Christ, are agents of communion open to the Cross in its double dimension, vertical and horizontal, so that there can be a real encounter with God by mankind and among men. If we want profound evangelization, we have to undertake the way to holiness."

"I did feel that the silent language of God was turned up in volume. I listened. The depth of God visited my depth of being. The invitation to the priesthood was whispered deep within. This vocation was co-discerned over the many years I was a student in the seminary. This happened in so many ways. I encountered Jesus in a special way in those years. The flame still burns strongly. Only Jesus. Jesus will be all I have when I die. Jesus is my enough."

"Unity and peace are important words in the teaching of Jesus. Events in history at times made it difficult for Christians to live in agreement. Pope John Paul II left us documents which lay the foundation for our efforts to build closer relations with one another. Pope Benedict confirms this message. If we fail to go in this direction we would ignore what the Church is proclaiming today. This pact is a call to continue our mutual activities and find new ways of involvement for the future. It is a challenge for our respective communities to enter into closer relationship with other believers in Christ."

"We see that happening today with many of the immigrants that come and are being rejected. Even though they are not criminals, they are being treated as criminals."

"The people in Cuba need our help and we will continue to support them in whatever way we can as the Catholic Church has always believed that engagement, rather than isolation, is the best way to improve human rights and move forward in our relations with the island nation."

"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 will lose many of her faithful, and in a short time organized groups will turn them away from their faith in exchange for material help and other services. From this Synod for America, I call upon Latin America, despite her poverty, to help Canada and the United States. It is also a fact that on our continent the social and economic gap between North and South is often very wide. As Pastors, we must do all we can to eliminate or at least reduce this gap."

"Establishing facts, often from a living memory, is one thing. The process of telling itself promotes participation, transparency and dialogue. It brings the stories of the victims out of the silence."

"My vocation is who I am and it is not just what I do at times. I think I understand much better now that I am a priest forever. This is a tremendous grace which gives me much consolation every day, but it is the daily challenge to me to be who I have been called to be in every way."

"We have to share the hurts pain the love the joy of the other and in that way we're sharing that sense of ruching were limping that person and then pick ourselves up in the same process because we're giving for sharing something of ourselves."

"The Church well knows that its purpose through the centuries of its existence amidst various societies, persons and cultures, was none other than the salvation of men and women and the construction of the city of God, as willed by its founder, Jesus Christ."

"In all frankness, I was hoping that the choice would not fall on me. What the Pope wants, you cannot refuse. It is quite frightening, and the only reason that I'm not too afraid is that when God calls he also helps, and I know that because I have noticed that in my life already."

"God is God for everyone. To be ambassadors of peace we must orient our lives on this model, to hunger for justice, be merciful and clement, opt for the poor, the elderly and the weak."

"Violence and unimaginable atrocities against peaceful citizens were committed. The population is in the throes of psychosis."

"There were times that were up and down, but I think all through it the sense of what it meant to be a priest and to be called to be a priest was something that kind of grew in fits and starts in different ways. There were times when I was thinking, "Well, maybe I should just leave." There were other times I was pretty certain that this was a call from the Lord."

"Since the clergy will continue to play a key and central role in the evangelisation of Africa, it is imperative that clerics and future clerics be formed in the dynamics and strategies of the total and all-inclusive evangelisation. The programme of formation in the seminaries will have to be so restructured as to prepare the seminarians to grapple with the life situations and problems of Africa and her people. Thus the ministers of the Gospel emerging from these seminaries will be imbued with Christ-like compassion that will enable them to respond in a committed way to the problems besetting their people."

"I have absolutely no regrets with the ministry that I've had the opportunity to serve in. In God's providence, this has all been arranged for his glory and I have no regrets. But there is a certain desire that I think every priest has to work directly with the people as much as possible. That's part of our pastoral heart and our desire and I don’t think that ever leaves us, in whatever type of ministry we may have."

"Every follower of Jesus has a role to play in evangelization and spreading the faith. People need to be formed in missionary consciousness; the lay faithful can reach out to so many different people in different walks of life, giving witness of how important the Lord is in their own lives."

"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."

"A question many of us ask ourselves is the following: where is the key for the renewal of the Church and of society in Europe? Starting from the experience of a group of bishop friends, as well as the life of the local Church that I am allowed to serve, I am fully convinced that the key lies in communion. This is the vision of the Bible, this is also today's experience of so many faithful in Europe. To live Christian communion is a new discovery to them, an experience full of hope."

"I like to say African-American Catholics are a people of the book and of the sacraments of the Church. The stories of sacred Scripture, of God leading his people from slavery to freedom and being faithful, speak very loudly to them. There is a strength that comes from the sacraments and being rooted in our ancestors, the saints."

"Be a gift of God for our people tempted to despair because of the social situation in our country. Women religious are called to spread hope."

"One man can stop the suffering of thousands of people with one word — that man is the President of the Russian Federation. I ask you most humbly to call for the withdrawal of the Russian troops from the sovereign state that is Ukraine."

"If we start nurturing our life with hatred, anger, jealousy, and many others, then we are leading ourselves towards our death."

"May the God who does not spare us his generosity be with you all and may you have the experience of His presence in you hearts."

"I chose that I want to stay here, because this is my church now. My diocese even though I won't be responsible for it. This is the church that I have grown to love."

"A communicator makes all things to all people, so that as St Paul said: we are able to save some people for the sake of the Gospel."

"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."

"The church in Canada is, today, radically re-examining its relationship with the Aboriginal Peoples of that country in function of purifying and renewing its covenant with them. This re-examination has been sparked by a number of factors: The recognition that we did not bring the Gospel to them in all its purity. Rather our initial missionary endeavor, for all its dedication, goodness and grace, was also marked by a lack of full respect for their culture and traditions."

"We want to bring some ethics back into the game, which has been undergoing a grave crisis in terms of sportsmanship."

"I'd like a church immersed in history, expert about humanity. A church like a mother, welcoming and forgiving, that doesn't want to proselytize but to evangelize, by telling people the beauty of God in a credible and fresh way."

"Maybe we also take our life for granted and forget that life is not ours, but a gift from God and must be given back to him. God is asking us to take care of our lives, not just our lives here on earth, but especially our afterlife; God is telling us to take care of each other."

"I believe that we must remember that the strong points are born from on High, from the strength of God, from our faith in Him, from our service, from our word and from the grace of God. The weaknesses belong to the human and, therefore, also to the Church, which is made up of concrete persons, who are also sinners; they are born from that which we do not succeed in living in completeness and fullness."

"We haven't done a good job teaching clearly what the Church teaches, its beauty, and the positive impact it will have in our lives, and in a way that uplifts and energizes the listener. We were complacent in past decades, as our churches were relatively full. I think we're recovering our ability to evangelize, however."

"Because of the broad cultural diversity among the Asians and Pacific Islanders and their presence so spread out across the nation, with specific needs and issues, it will be very difficult to put up one plan that fits all."

"When I speak, I speak like a pastor and that I can never stop doing. If I stop doing that, then I will not be faithful to God, the Almighty."

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

"Let us rest our dead with dignity and in peace while we await the resurrection, waiting to be able to embrace each other again in eternal life."

"It is not always possible to recover one's health. However, it is possible to give comfort to the sick and help of the divine grace. Sometimes this is what they mostly need, and this is the role of pastoral care. Anointing the sick, which must be administered by the right person must be a pastoral need on the part of the Church towards its suffering members"

"In Angola a country of many ethnic groups, languages, parties, churches and sects there is need of unity, fatherland, nationality."

"The evangelization of the "New World" first came through an indigenous person. They've always been a very integral part of the Church, just as any baptized person."

"I have and always will preach the truth, but I have never pointed fingers at any one. For this reason I complain because they blame me for many things that happen. They can do what they want with me, but I will always preach the truth."

"He's a very good man. He had a lot of pastoral strengths. He's got a lot of good points. He's done of lot of good work. Hes got quite a strong following in the diocese. But the diocese was divided quite badly and the bishop hasn't demonstrated that he's a team player. I mean even at the end he didn't wait for the official Vatican announcement."

"You call me son of the soil. I am proud of that. But that emboldens me to insist on your whole-hearted cooperation."

"Collegiality does not exist when Bishops are passive, but when they take the initiative in bringing forward problems and possibilities, as they share the roles of teaching, sanctifying and governing. Collegiality simply expresses the apostolic origin of the Church entrusted by Christ to the Apostles and by them to their successors. The dialogue of salvation needs to be kept open."

"This action carried out by Hindu radicals was completely senseless and gratuitous. Indian citizens are free to practice their religion according to the constitutional provisions of India. But this freedom has been reduced in recent times, as evidenced by the incident."

"Invisibly our Eucharistic celebrations gather a still absent people, one of those who are searching for God in the righteousness of their hearts. For a particular Church, the way of living the Eucharist cannot be separated from its concrete history with the people she was given to by the Lord."

"In Scotland, as in much of Europe, people are shy to show their faith, they're embarrassed now because it's because so secular, in Africa it's the exact opposite, people are exuberant about their faith, it's only natural to talk about God."

"It is important to strongly reaffirm the will of the Catholic Church to make its own contribution, in the spirit of service, towards an effort common to all Europeans. Many do not share our faith. Others suspect a desire for power on the part of the Church. Others think that the Church is closed, as if it were locked up in the past, and has nothing more to give to today's world. However, many are those who are expecting from the Church and from Christians, a word, a commitment."