Roman Catholic Archbishops

"there are several countries in Africa which are guilty of abusive use and treatment of the gift of Creation. Over and above the bizarre instances of citizens from African countries accepting monies from European countries to provide dumping grounds in their own countries for industrial toxic waste, the greatest abuse and misuse of the environment are registered in the areas of extractive industries, such as mining and drilling for oil, and lumbering."

"As quoted in Fr. Dave Caron, Interview With Cardinal Peter Turkson (March 15, 2024)"

"In terms of training or the competence of the personnel, we try to work together with other organizations like Caritas, which typically has competent staff. In local churches, there are also other bodies. As for resources, we sometimes receive funding from here, under the castle. But we also receive support from other entities with philanthropic objectives that are ready to commit funds and resources to this development. Cross Catholic Outreach falls into that category; they can raise funds and support various development initiatives. So far, they have done an excellent job. I have recently come to know them, although some have known them better from their past relationship with the dicastery. We have found them to be dependable, beneficial and supportive benefactors of some of these projects aimed at promoting the development of people. They help support those in need, whether by assisting with facilities, providing food or promoting agricultural development."

"We want to leverage the objectives of business—not only profit and monetary gain—but also the transformational value that it brings to society—making life better, worth living, equitable, and inclusive. I remain optimistic about the potential for positive transformation."

"The story of my vocation is very simple. Maybe every priestly vocation comes out of an apparently trivial reason, but then grows and clarifies in the seminary. A vocation is a bit like the starter mechanism of a car, the spark that starts the engine."

"In seeking peaceful solutions, all notable diplomatic and political approaches aim at reestablishing truth, justice and peace. Christ is our peace, He made peace, He proclaimed peace, so that all Jews and pagans could be made one people. Not by leaving each other with their privileges and their rights, but in abolishing exclusion, in pulling down the wall of cultural and social separation, in destroying the hatred which He crucified upon the cross with his body."

"People lose sight of the common good, there is corruption, there are shortcomings in the administration of justice, and politics is discredited. For this reason it is necessary to provide for political formation not only for the ruling class but also for all the lay faithful."

"The family is a victim of forces which wish to destroy and deform it... our struggle on the pastoral level must be to fight the culture of death."

"It is important that we not fall into a social activism which can become a type of neo-pelagianism. Our work is always the work of God. We maintain a balance between our work and the action of God's grace, above all, by prayer - not only liturgical prayer but also personal prayer. I do not think we can overemphasize the importance of personal prayer, especially in our world today."

"Celebrating Easter, we must live a life of love and service of neighbour."

"In the training of priests, the study of Asian spirituality should play an important role. The people in charge of the seminaries should meet, study and explore the ways to achieve the best possible training. The priests, at least those from the same cultural area, should try to live in a climate of profound mutual understanding."

"We do not need to ask ourselves which steps society has to take to make so many different people form a united America, but let's rather try to discern what we, as the Church in America, can achieve. Our proposal is to serve."

"No one is excused from working for the country's development because development is another name for peace."

"We now have the responsibility of passing it on to others. The Holy Spirit, in turn, asks of every one of us to build a better society or community -right where we live."

"Stop supplying the Africans with weapons because they are killing each other. You are guilty of the atrocity of fratricidal wars: Africans do not make modern sophisticated weapons. You even go and choose the richer countries and the ones having more raw materials to go and stir up turmoil and conflict. The future will no doubt condemn you without pity. Immediately stop any further supply of weapons."

"It was a source of great joy to pass these three weeks not only "sub Petro" but "cum Petro". Pope Benedict was with us for most of the time, listening with arefuly and creating a friendly atmosphere amongst the Synod fathers; that's very important."

"I think we need the Samaritan's sensitivity. This doesn't only involve doing things for others, but handling the other person's situation."

"Proclaiming the Gospel should not be an exhausting task, concentrating on criticism, full of reproaches, of questioning, of the sowing of mere doubts, but rather a joyful announcement, providing consolation, relief, challenge and hope."

"Faith and hope in Jesus through Mary is the basis of your spirituality and the good works you achieve, like Monfort you show mercy to the poor and the suffering."

"Inculturation is not a superficial strategy for the propagation of our faith, but the very nature and identity of our mission, on the very pattern of God's mission manifested through Jesus in the dialogue of salvation. Only when the Church dialogues with the cultures of Asia, giving birth to Asian forms of Christian spirituality, prayer and worship, theology and lifestyle, will we grow as fully Asian and authentically Christian Churches."

"It has been a work in progress (the Lord gently leading) that I have noticed ever since I lost interest in being either a cowboy or a fireman. My image of the priesthood has grown with me and continues to grow."

"The monastery is a house of prayer, study, and hospitality, a place in which they can await the return to Christ, the Spouse, in order to participate in the Heavenly Banquet."

"We usually say that this is not Rosario, it's not Rosario yet. We are at a moment where it almost depends on us for this to not be Rosario, but if we are careless, it will be Rosario in three months, or it already is and it will be more blatant to see."

"We cannot accept the culture of death, it seems that the lives of people has no value. We must react, we cannot accept violence."

"It would be best if all Bishops in America campaigned together so that Christian entrepreneurs and others who, even if not Christian would appreciate people's ethical views and undertook to withdraw their publicity regarding immoral programs or any other type of support of that nature."

"Patience is needed to travel this path at a pace dictated by the Heart of the disciples, by the Heart of the Church. It is patience that the Vicars of Christ, the Bishops, are called to cultivate and here we see how difficult the episcopal mission is."

"I did not agree with all his positions, but this only made our conversations more lively and memorable. We spent long hours of the evening and night during my visits to , where I would normally stay in the Archbishop’s apartment, discussing politics, religion, and pretty much everything, with Casale’s sister periodically and silently appearing to offer an incredible variety of local cookies and beverages. Later, became also part of these lengthy domestic conversations. ...It was precisely because of his natural empathy with all sort of discriminated minorities that Casale also understood the injustices vested on new religious movements. He was critical both of the secular anti-cult movement and of some excesses of Catholic counter-cultists. He remained, however, firstly a Roman Catholic bishop, something members of new religious movements captivated by his natural sympathy and Southern Italian humor, and hoping for more support, sometimes risked to forget."

"I am certain that every pontiff brings with him his personal qualities but I also believe the role can shape the person. The Pope will continue to preach the teachings of the Church and, as one of the architects of Vatican II, he will strive to spread the message of Christ and the joy, happiness and dynamism which come with it."

"The Church needs young people for the present and the future. Today the Church is not attracting them as it should, and yet research indicates that young people are just as ready as they have ever been to respond to noble causes. In Christ's vision of the Kingdom, the Church has the most noble cause imaginable, if only it can link this vision with the Church. If young people are to be treated with seriousness, they must be included in the forums of the Church at every level."

"In order to see that the Parish becomes the place of encounter between Christ and our brethren we must put into practice the commitment undertaken in Medellin, Puebla and Santo Domingo, of converting the Parish into a community of small communities and movements. In this way the Pastor becomes a stimulator of the lay leaders and a catechist of the catechists so that all those baptized - adults and children - can become living and responsible members."

"The Instrumentum Laboris invites to increase the ecumenical awareness of the faithful (No.42). Let's welcome the call. However, we must clearly aim at the problems which appear in this task, not so much on behalf of the historical reformed churches as much as the "evangelical" groups which are rapidly increasing in many countries of Latin America. It is necessary to consider the causes of this growth, recognizing wherever necessary one's own shortcomings."

"Parents tell me about their children and say, "Basketball is his life," or "Skiing is her life" but at a deeper level as Catholics we say, "Christ is my life," and so the athletes and every Catholic need to be integrating that relationship into their activities — sports or otherwise."

"Dialogue presupposes that I am truly very convinced of what I believe, but that I respect that which the other believes."

"Communion is our horizon and our dream. We want to overcome any spirit of competition and open our frontiers to bear witness to what we have seen, heard, organising missionary activity in our Church. We reject anything which closes us in small horizons."

"The Czech Republic is a small country of eleven million inhabitants. Christians make up about one third of the population. If the Holy Father decided to come to visit such a small country, with so few believers, he was urged only by apostolic love."

"The most fundamental principle of legislation is to defend human rights. If a law violates the most fundamental right, the right to life, it commits a serious error."

"Healthy inculturation can be of help. But one must never move away from the Magisterium of the Universal Church. And our masses must not be too particular. They must not be understood only by us Africans. Any Catholic who participates in a religious function of ours must be able to recognize it, must be able to feel at home. Catholicism is not Protestantism."

"I pray now that I will do all I can to feed the people of this Church and I know that I need to be fed by you. Over the last nine years I know that I have been fed and nourished by the prayer, commitment and enthusiasm of the wonderful people who give of themselves to the Church in many ways. Thank you!"

"I have seen where families send away their daughters -in law and children because of their suspicion. Family rejection of children is an abomination. It is a grave sin in the eyes of God. It is a distortion of the Gospel message of Jesus which is love, forgiveness, reconciliation, the return to the family of God."

"Remembering the past of the peoples helps to project the future. We cannot forget the history of people."

"At any event I wasn't informed. I was a bishop from far-away America. I just tried to pray a little. Holding in mind the things that could help judgment before God."

"The ideal would be for priests to live a community life and have several common-rooms available. At least the priests of a single pastoral unit in a given place should be able to meet for two or three hours a day, to pray together, to eat a fraternal meal together, to study problems together, to plan work together, sharing tasks according to the skills of each one and checking together on the results of their work. If it is impossible for them to meet every day, let them meet at least once a week."

"It is absolutely necessary to remember; to remember helps to prevent. A people that does not remember is destined to repeat the errors it has forgotten. It is necessary to remember, also by observing the tragic situations of today: Humanity is always at the edge of a precipice; it is capable of repeating these tragedies.”"

"We should be witnesses to the universal love of God. After all, people of every cultural and religious position are made in God's image."

"Nowhere, in a democratic country, one can think of doing politics by defending their points of view with weapons."

"It's not a bad idea to insist on discussions in another country in order to avoid the issue of location and to find a way to establish that humanitarian exchange."

"Mindanao needs stabilisation, which must come about in small steps, gradually, with the contribution of all."

"Children are all important in Papua New Guinea's culture. Special care is given to their education in customs to ensure that tradition is handed down from one generation to the next. Since Christmas celebrates the birth of the Child, it fits well into the PNG mindset. For all our children the Child Jesus is a model and a friend."

"In times of globalization, the world has shrunk, transforming itself into a village where nations have become families living for one another and dependent on each other. And, according to the cultural tradition of Vietnam, families, in relationships among them, are like a village. By this metaphor I want to emphasize that the Vatican and Vietnam seem to have the will to build relations of this type."

"South Africa's leadership thinks that respect for human rights is a sufficient basis for democracy. However all the country's religious leaders, not only Catholics, say this is not enough: strong supported must be given to moral values to ensure correct social progress."