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Over The Pope As Expression Of The Binding Claim Of Ecclesiastical Authority, There Stands One's Own Conscience Which Must Be Obeyed Before All Else, Even If Necessary Against The Requirement Of Ecclesiastical Authority.

-Pope Benedict XVI

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Over The Pope As

Pope Benedict XVI

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Over The Pope As Expression Of The Binding Claim Of Ecclesiastical Authority, There Stands One's Own Conscience Which Must Be Obeyed Before All Else, Even If Necessary Against The Requirement Of Ecclesiastical Authority.

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If You Abide In The Love Of Christ, Rooted In The Faith, You Will Encounter, Even Amid Setbacks And Suffering, The Source Of True Happiness And Joy. Faith Does Not Run Counter To Your Highest Ideals; On The Contrary, It Elevates And Perfects Those Ideals. Dear Young People, Do Not Be Satisfied With Anything Less Than Truth And Love, Do Not Be Content With Anything Less Than Christ.

I, Retired In Prayer, Will Always Be With You, And Together We Will Move Ahead With The Lord In Certainty. The Lord Is Victorious.

Continue To Witness To The Gospel Every Day And Commit Yourselves Generously In The Next Missionary Initiatives In The Diocese Of Rome.

To Have Christian Hope Means To Know About Evil And Yet To Go To Meet The Future With Confidence. The Core Of Faith Rests Upon Accepting Being Loved By God, And Therefore To Believe Is To Say Yes, Not Only To Him, But To Creation, To Creatures, Above All, To Men, To Try To See The Image Of God In Each Person And Thereby To Become A Lover. That's Not Easy, But The Basic Yes, The Conviction That God Has Created Men, That He Stands Behind Them, That They Aren't Simply Negative, Gives Love A Reference Point That Enables It To Ground Hope On The Basis Of Faith.

It Is Not By Sidestepping Or Fleeing From Suffering That We Are Healed, But Rather By Our Capacity For Accepting It, Maturing Through It And Finding Meaning Through Union With Christ, Who Suffered With Infinite Love.

The Proclamation And Witness Of The Gospel Are The First Service That Christians Can Offer Every Person And The Whole Human Race, As They Are Called To Communicate To All The Love Of God, Who Manifested Himself Fully In The Only Redeemer Of The World, Jesus Christ.

You Must Know Your Faith With The Same Precision With Which A Specialist In Information Technology Knows The Operating System Of A Computer.

The Sharing Of Goods And Resources, From Which Authentic Development Proceeds, Is Not Guaranteed By Merely Technical Progress And Relationships Of Utility, But By The Potential Of Love That Overcomes Evil With Good.

Prayer, As A Means Of Drawing Ever New Strength From Christ, Is Concretely And Urgently Needed.

We Do Not Seek A Christ Whom We Have Invented, For Only In The Real Communion Of The Church Do We Encounter The Real Christ.

The Christian Faith Can Never Be Separated From The Soil Of Sacred Events, From The Choice Made By God, Who Wanted To Speak To Us, To Become Man, To Die And Rise Again, In A Particular Place And At A Particular Time.

Our World Has Grown Weary Of Greed, Exploitation And Division, Of The Tedium Of False Idols And Piecemeal Responses, And The Pain Of False Promises.

The Ways Of The Lord Are Not Easy, But We Were Not Created For An Easy Life, But For Great Things, For Goodness.

I Believe That In A Certain Way This Is Proof Of The Truth Of Christianity: Heart And Reason Encounter One Another, Beauty And Truth Converge, And The More That We Ourselves Succeed In Living In The Beauty Of Truth, The More That Faith Will Be Able To Return To Being Creative In Our Time Too, And To Express Itself In A Convincing Form Of Art.

That The Entire People Of God, To Whom Christ Entrusted The Mandate To Go And Preach The Gospel To Every Creature, May Eagerly Assume Their Own Missionary Responsibility And Consider It The Highest Service They Can Offer Humanity.

The World Needs More Than Just Itself. Amid The Dreariness, People Do Not Need A Distraction That Will In The End Become Dreary Itself; They Are Asking For Mystery, Even If They Do Not Realize This Themselves. They Need The Sign Of The Wholly Other, The Living Word Of God, Entering Into This Our Age In Unadulterated Trustworthiness And Dynamism.

Silence 'is So Lacking In This World Which Is Often Too Noisy, Which Is Not Favorable To Recollection And Listening To The Voice Of God. In This Time Of Preparation For Christmas, Let Us Cultivate Interior Recollection So As To Receive And Keep Jesus In Our Lives.'

To The Extent That We Nourish Ourselves On Christ And Are In Love With Him, We Feel Within Us The Incentive To Bring Others To Him: Indeed, We Cannot Keep The Joy Of The Faith To Ourselves; We Must Pass It On.

Being Missionaries Means Loving God With All One's Heart, Even To The Point, If Necessary, Of Dying For Him... Being Missionaries Means Stooping Down To The Needs Of All, Like The Good Samaritan, Especially Those Of The Poorest And Most Destitute People.

An Authentic Updating Of Sacred Music Can Take Place Only In The Lineage Of The Great Tradition Of The Past, Of Gregorian Chant And Of Sacred Polyphony.

Freedom Is Not Only A Gift, But A Summons To Personal Responsibility.

Personal Responsibility

Grant That We May Be One Flock And One Shepherd.

It Is Imperative That The Entire Christian Community In The United States Come To Realize The Grave Threats To The Church's Public Moral Witness Presented By A Militant Atheism Which Finds Increasing Expression In The Political And Cultural Spheres. The Seriousness Of These Threats Needs To Be Clearly Appreciated At Every Level Of Ecclesial Life.

The Cardinals Have Elected Me, A Simple And Humble Labourer In The Vineyard Of The Lord. The Fact That The Lord Knows How To Work And To Act Even With Inadequate Instruments Comforts Me, And Above All I Entrust Myself To Your Prayers.

Art Is Elemental. Reason Alone As It's Expressed In The Sciences Can't Be Man's Complete Answer To Reality, And It Can't Express Everything That Man Can, Wants To, And Has To Express. I Think God Built This Into Man. Art Along With Science Is The Highest Gift God Has Given Him.

With The Synod Assembly, Therefore, I Heartily Recommend To The Church's Pastors And To The People Of God The Practice Of Eucharistic Adoration, Both Individually And In Community

Let Us Put Our Hands Today Again At (god's) Disposition And Pray That He Takes Our Hands To Guide Us. Let His Hand Take Ours So We Won't Sink, But Will Serve Life Which Is Stronger Than Death, And Love Which Is Stronger Than Hatred.

While The Church Exhorts Civil Authorities To Seek Peace, Not War, And To Exercise Discretion And Mercy In Imposing Punishment On Criminals, It May Still Be Permissible To Take Up Arms To Repel An Aggressor Or To Have Recourse To Capital Punishment. There May Be A Legitimate Diversity Of Opinion Even Among Catholics About Waging War And Applying The Death Penalty, But Not However With Regard To Abortion And Euthanasia.

The Church's Mission Is To Spread Hope "contagiously" Among All Peoples... It Is Only In This Mission That The True Journey Of Humanity Is Understood And Attested.

Lent Stimulates Us To Let The Word Of God Penetrate Our Life And In This Way To Know The Fundamental Truth: Who We Are, Where We Come From, Where We Must Go, What Path We Must Take In Life.

The Freedom To Kill Is Not A True Freedom, But A Tyranny That Reduces Human Beings To Slavery.

Discovering The Beauty And Joy Of Faith Is A Path That Every New Generation Must Take On Its Own.

We, However, Have A Different Goal: The Son Of God, The True Man. He Is The Measure Of True Humanism. An "adult" Faith Is Not A Faith That Follows The Trends Of Fashion And The Latest Novelty; A Mature, Adult Faith Is Deeply Rooted In Friendship With Christ. It Is This Friendship That Opens Us Up To All That Is Good And Gives Us A Criterion By Which To Distinguish The True From The False, And Deceit From Truth.

In Latin America In General, It's Very Important That Christianity Not Be Simply A Thing Of Reason, But Also Of The Heart.

Love Looks To The Eternal. Love Is Indeed "ecstasy," Not In The Sense Of A Moment Of Intoxication, But Rather As A Journey, An On-going Exodus Out Of The Closed Inward-looking Self Toward Its Liberation Through Self-giving... Toward Authentic Self-discovery And Indeed The Discovery Of God.

Love Alone Makes Us Happy, Because We Live In Relation, And We Live To Love And To Be Loved.

Advent's Intention Is To Awaken The Most Profound And Basic Emotional Memory Within Us, Namely, The Memory Of The God Who Became A Child. This Is A Healing Memory; It Brings Hope. The Purpose Of The Church's Year Is Continually To Rehearse Her Great History Of Memories, To Awaken The Heart's Memory So That It Can Discern The Star Of Hope.

Both Need Each Other: The Agnostic Cannot Be Content To Not Know, But Must Be In Search Of The Great Truth Of Faith; The Catholic Cannot Be Content To Have Faith, But Must Be In Search Of God All The Time, And In The Dialogue With Others, A Catholic Can Learn More About God In A Deeper Fashion.

Today, I, Too, Wish To Reaffirm That I Intend To Continue On The Path Toward Improved Relations And Friendship With The Jewish People, Following The Decisive Lead Given By John Paul Ii.

Rock... Is The Expression Of Elemental Passions... In The Ecstasy Of Having All Their Defenses Torn Down, The Participants Sink, As It Were, Beneath The Elemental Force Of The Universe.

One Who Has Hope Lives Differently.

The World Needs Transparent Lives, Clear Souls, Pure Minds That Refuse To Be Perceived As Mere Objects Of Pleasure.

At The Time Of Galileo The Church Remained Much More Reasonable Than Galileo Himself. The Process Against Galileo Was Reasonable And Just.

With The Eucharist, Therefore, Heaven Comes Down To Earth, The Tomorrow Of God Descends Into The Present And It Is As If Time Remains Embraced By Divine Eternity.

A Good School Provides A Rounded Education For The Whole Person. And A Good Catholic School, Over And Above This, Should Help All Its Students To Become Saints.

Standards Of Conduct Appropriate To Civil Society Or The Workings Of A Democracy Cannot Be Purely And Simply Applied To The Church.

Receiving The Eucharist Means Adoring Him Whom We Receive. Only In This Way Do We Become One With Him, And Are Given, As It Were, A Foretaste Of The Beauty Of The Heavenly Liturgy. The Act Of Adoration Outside Mass Prolongs And Intensifies All That Takes Place During The Liturgical Celebration Itself.

God Is Alive. He Has Created Every One Of Us, And He Knows Us All. He Is So Great That He Has Time For The Little Things In Our Lives: “every Hair Of Your Head Is Numbered”. God Is Alive, And Makes Sense To Become A Priest: The World Needs Priests, Pastors, Today, Tomorrow And Always, Until The End Of Time.

Dear Young People, Let Me Now Ask You A Question. What Will You Leave To The Next Generation? Are You Building Your Lives On Firm Foundations, Building Something That Will Endure?

It Is Important Always To Know That The First Word, The True Initiative, The True Activity Comes From God And Only By Inserting Ourselves Into The Divine Initiative, Only Begging For This Divine Initiative, Shall We Too Be Able To Become - With Him And In Him - Evangelizers.

Friends, Do Not Be Afraid Of Silence Or Stillness. Listen To God. Adore Him In The Eucharist.

To Desire The Common Good And Strive Towards It Is A Requirement Of Justice And Charity.

Beauty, Then, Is Not Mere Decoration, But Rather An Essential Element Of The Liturgical Action, Since It Is An Attribute Of God Himself And His Revelation. These Considerations Should Make Us Realize The Care Which Is Needed, If The Liturgical Action Is To Reflect Its Innate Splendour.

Seeing With The Eyes Of Christ, I Can Give To Others Much More Than Their Outward Necessities; I Can Give Them The Look Of Love Which They Crave.

We Celebrate [easter] Because Now, Thanks To The Risen Lord, It Is Definitively Established That Reason Is Stronger Than Unreason, Truth Stronger Than Lies, Love Stronger Than Death.

Do Not Be Afraid Of Christ. He Takes Nothing Away And He Gives You Everything.

Apostolic And Missionary Fruitfulness Is Not Principally Due To Programmes And Pastoral Methods That Are Cleverly Drawn Up And "efficient", But Is The Result Of The Community's Constant Prayer (cf. "evangelii Nuntiandi," 75). Moreover, For The Mission To Be Effective, Communities Must Be United, That Is, They Must Be "of One Heart And Soul" (cf. Acts 4:32), And They Must Be Ready To Witness To The Love And Joy That The Holy Spirit Instils In The Hearts Of The Faithful (cf. Acts 4:32).

Knowing Is Not Simply A Material Act, Since The Object That Is Known Always Conceals Something Beyond The Empirical Datum. All Our Knowledge, Even The Most Simple, Is Always A Minor Miracle, Since It Can Never Be Fully Explained By The Material Instruments That We Apply To It. In Every Truth There Is Something More Than We Would Have Expected, In The Love That We Receive There Is Always An Element That Surprises Us.

The Essence Of Christianity...is An Ever-new Encounter With... The God Who Speaks To Us, Who Approaches Us And Who Befriends Us!

Christianity Is Not A New Philosophy Or New Morality. We Are Christians Only If We Encounter Christ... Only In This Personal Relationship With Christ, Only In This Encounter With The Risen One Do We Really Become Christians... Therefore, Let Us Pray To The Lord To Enlighten Us, So That, In Our World, He Will Grant Us The Encounter With His Presence, And Thus Give Us A Lively Faith, An Open Heart, And Great Charity For All, Capable Of Renewing The World.

The New Pope Knows That His Task Is To Make The Light Of Christ Shine Before Men And Women Of World - Not His Own Light, But That Of Christ.

The Celebration Of Lent, In The Context Of The Year Of Faith, Offers Us A Valuable Opportunity To Meditate On The Relationship Between Faith And Charity: Between Believing In God - The God Of Jesus Christ - And Love, Which Is The Fruit Of The Holy Spirit And Which Guides Us On The Path Of Devotion To God And Others.

Non-african Missionaries, Responding Generously To The Lord's Call With Ardent Apostolic Zeal, Came To Share The Joy Of Revelation. Following In Their Footsteps, Africans Are Today Missionaries On Other Continents.

We Cannot Live, We Cannot Look At The Truth About Ourselves Without Letting Ourselves Be Looked At And Generated By Christ In Daily Eucharistic Adoration.

We Live Our Lives By Philosophies, Amid Worldly Affairs And Occupations That Totally Absorb Us And Are A Great Distance From The Manger. In All Kinds Of Ways, God Has To Prod Us And Reach Out To Us Again And Again, So That We Can Manage To Escape From The Muddle Of Our Thoughts And Activities And Discover The Way That Leads To Him. But A Path Exists For All Of Us. The Lord Provides Everyone With Tailor-made Signals.

When, In Adoration, We Look At The Consecrated Host, The Sign Of Creation Speaks To Us. And So, We Encounter The Greatness Of His Gift; But We Also Encounter The Passion, The Cross Of Jesus And His Resurrection. Through This Gaze Of Adoration, He Draws Us Toward Himself, Within His Mystery, Through Which He Wants To Transform Us As He Transformed The Host.

Those Who Allow Themselves To Be Led By The Spirit Understand That Placing Oneself At The Service Of The Gospel Is Not An Optional Extra, Because They Are Aware Of The Urgency Of Transmitting This Good News To Others...i Assure You That The Spirit Of Jesus Today Is Inviting You Young People To Be Bearers Of The Good News Of Jesus To Your Contemporaries.

The Catholic Tradition Maintains That The Objective Norms Governing Right Action Are Accessible To Reason, Prescinding From The Content Of Revelation.

The Jesus Who Makes Everything Okay For Everyone Is A Phantom, A Dream, Not A Real Figure.

Thus, The Apostles' Adventure Began As A Gathering Of Persons Who Open To One Another Reciprocally. A Direct Knowledge Of The Teacher Began For The Disciples. They Saw Where He Lived And Began To Know Him. They Would Not Have To Be Heralds Of An Idea, But Witnesses Of A Person. Before Being Sent To Evangelize, They Would Have To "be" With Jesus (cf. Mark 3:14), Establishing A Personal Relationship With Him. With This Foundation, Evangelization Is No More Than A Proclamation Of What Has Been Experienced And An Invitation To Enter Into The Mystery Of Communion With Christ (cf. 1 John 13).

The Examination Of Conscience Has An Important Educational Value. It Teaches Us To Look Sincerely At Our Own Lives, To Compare Them With The Truth Of The Gospel And To Evaluate Them With Parameters That Are Not Only Human But Drawn From Divine Revelation. Comparison With The Commandments, With The Beatitudes, And Above All With The Precept To Love, Represents The First Great 'school Of Penance

Each Generation, As It Seeks To Advance The Common Good, Must Ask Anew: 'what Are The Requirements That Governments May Reasonably Impose Upon Citizens, And How Far Do They Extend? By Appeal To What Authority Can Moral Dilemmas Be Resolved?'

To Suffer With The Other And For Others; To Suffer For The Sake Of Truth And Justice; To Suffer Out Of Love And In Order To Become A Person Who Truly Loves - These Are Fundamental Elements Of Humanity, And To Abandon Them Would Destroy Man Himself.

In The Month Of October, The Universal Church Highlights Her Missionary Vocation. Guided By The Holy Spirit She Knows She Is Called To Pursue The Work Of Jesus Himself, Proclaiming The Gospel Of The Kingdom Of God Which Is "righteousness And Peace And Joy In The Holy Spirit"

We Are Still Awaiting Easter; We Are Not Yet Standing In The Full Light But Walking Toward It Full Of Trust.

For Each One Of You, As For The Apostles, The Encounter With The Divine Teacher Who Calls You Friends May Be The Beginning Of An Extraordinary Venture: That Of Becoming Apostles Among Your Contemporaries To Lead Them To Live Their Own Experience Of Friendship With God, Made Man, With God Who Has Made Himself My Friend.

Perhaps Reluctantly We Come To Acknowledge That There Are Also Scars Which Mark The Surface Of Our Earth: Erosion, Deforestation, The Squandering Of The World’s Mineral And Ocean Resources In Order To Fuel An Insatiable Consumption.

May All Our Contemporaries Stand Beside Their Brothers And Sisters In Humanity. Each One Of You Is Called By Christ And Must Be A Missionary Of The Good News In Word And In Active Charity.

In Jesus Christ, God Took On A Human Face And Became Our Friend And Brother.

Today The Great Gift Of God's Creation Is Exposed To Serious Dangers And Lifestyles Which Can Degrade It. Environmental Pollution Is Making Particularly Unsustainable The Lives Of The Poor Of The World ... We Must Pledge Ourselves To Take Care Of Creation And To Share Its Resources In Solidarity.

Make Sure That Every Person, Of Whatever Background, Can Find In You A Welcoming Heart.

Not All Moral Issues Have The Same Moral Weight As Abortion And Euthanasia. There May Be Legitimate Diversity Of Opinion Even Among Catholics About Waging War And Applying The Death Penalty, But Not... With Regard To Abortion And Euthanasia.

The Need To Proclaim Christ Boldly And Courageously Is A Continuing Priority For The Church; Indeed It Is A Solemn Duty Laid Upon Her By Christ Who Enjoined The Apostles To 'go Out To The Whole World, Proclaim The Good News To All Creation.'

The State Which Would Provide Everything, Absorbing Everything Into Itself, Would Ultimately Become A Mere Bureaucracy Incapable Of Guaranteeing The Very Thing Which The Suffering Person—every Person—needs: Namely, Loving Personal Concern. We Do Not Need A State Which Regulates And Controls Everything, But A State Which, In Accordance With The Principle Of Subsidiarity, Generously Acknowledges And Supports Initiatives Arising From The Different Social Forces And Combines Spontaneity With Closeness To Those In Need. The Church Is One Of Those Living Forces.

With The Rosary, We Allow Ourselves To Be Guided By Mary, Model Of Faith, In Meditating On The Mysteries Of Christ, And Day After Day We Are Helped To Assimilate The Gospel, So That It Shapes All Our Lives.

Every Human Life Is Precious In God's Sight And No Effort Should Be Spared In The Attempt To Promote Throughout The World A Genuine Respect For The Inalienable Rights And Dignity Of Individuals And Peoples Everywhere.

Mary's Greatness Consists In The Fact That She Wants To Magnify God, Not Herself.

Dear Brothers And Sisters...the Lord Is Calling Me To "climb The Mountain", To Devote Myself Even More To Prayer And Meditation. But This Does Not Mean Abandoning The Church, Indeed, If God Is Asking Me To Do This, It Is So I Can Continue To Serve The Church With The Same Dedication And The Same Love With Which I Have Done Thus Far, But In A Way That Is Better Suited To My Age And My Strength

How Much Filth There Is In The Church, Even Among Those Who, In The Priesthood, Should Belong Entirely To Him. How Much Pride, How Much Self-sufficiency.

Vacation Time Offers The Unique Opportunity To Pause Before The Thought-provoking Spectacles Of Nature, A Wonderful "book" Within Reach Of Everyone, Adults And Children. In Contact With Nature, A Person Rediscovers His Correct Dimension, Rediscovers Himself As A Creature, Small But At The Same Time Unique, With A "capacity For God" Because Interiorly He Is Open To The Infinite.

Enough With The Slaughters. Enough With The Violence. Enough With The Hatred In Iraq!

It Is Rational To Believe, As It Is Our Very Existence That Is At Stake.

Indeed, Beauty Is One Of Mankind's Greatest Needs; It Is The Root From Which The Branches Of Our Peace And The Fruits Of Our Hope Come Forth. Beauty Also Reveals God Because, Like Him, A Work Of Beauty Is Pure Gratuity; It Calls Us To Freedom And Draws Us Away From Selfishness.

Authentic Love Is Obviously Something Good... When We Love, We Become Most Fully Ourselves, Most Fully Human... People Often Think They Are Being Loving When Actually They Are Being Possessive Or Manipulative. People Sometimes Treat Others As Objects To Satisfy Their Own Needs... How Easy It Is To Be Deceived By The Many Voices In Our Society That Advocate A Permissive Approach To Sexuality, Without Regard For Modesty, Self-respect Or The Moral Values That Bring Quality To Human Relationships! This Is Worship Of A False God. Instead Of Bringing Life, It Brings Death.

Wherever Applause Breaks Out In The Liturgy Because Of Some Human Achievement, It Is A Sure Sign That The Essence Of Liturgy Has Totally Disappeared And Been Replaced By A Kind Of Religious Entertainment. Such Attraction Fades Quickly - It Cannot Compete In The Market Of Leisure Pursuits, Incorporating As It Increasingly Does Various Forms Of Religious Titillation.

What Is Capable Of Restoring Enthusiasm And Confidence, What Can Encourage The Human Spirit To Rediscover Its Path, To Raise Its Eyes To The Horizon, To Dream Of A Life Worthy Of Its Vocation - If Not Beauty?

Nature Expresses A Design Of Love And Truth.

We Must Have Great Respect For These People Who Also Suffer And Who Want To Find Their Own Way Of Correct Living. On The Other Hand, To Create A Legal Form Of A Kind Of Homosexual Marriage, In Reality, Does Not Help These People.

Love Is Not Greedy Or Self-seeking, But Pure, Faithful And Genuinely Free, Open To Others, Respectful Of Their Dignity, Seeking Their Good, Radiating Joy And Beauty.

For More Than 160 Years, Through The Initiative Of The French Bishop Charles De Forbin Janson, The Childhood Of Jesus Has Become The Icon For The Commitment Of Christian Children Who Help The Church In Her Task Of Evangelization By Prayer, Sacrifice And Gestures Of Solidarity....thousands Of Children Meet The Needs Of Other Children, Driven By The Love That The Son Of God, Become A Child, Brought To The Earth. I Say Thanks To These Little Ones And I Pray That They Will Always Be Missionaries.

For Me, It's A Great Joy To Be Together With Priests: In The End, The Bishop Of Rome Is The Bishop And Brother Of All Priests. His Mandate Is To Confirm The Brothers In The Faith.

How Many People Also In Our Time Are In Search Of God, In Search Of Jesus And Of His Church, In Search Of Divine Mercy, And Are Waiting For A "sign" That Will Touch Their Minds And Their Hearts! Today, As Then, The Evangelist Reminds Us That The Only "sign" Is Jesus Raised On The Cross: Jesus Who Died And Rose Is The Absolutely Sufficient Sign. Through Him We Can Understand The Truth About Life And Obtain Salvation.

Look At The Face Of The Other... Discover That He Has A Soul, A History And A Life, That He Is A Person And That God Loves This Person.

Holiness Never Goes Out Of Fashion.

Purity Of Heart Is What Enables Us To See.

We Are Building A Dictatorship Of Relativism That Does Not Recognize Anything As Definitive And Whose Ultimate Goal Consists Solely Of One's Own Ego And Desires. We, However, Have A Different Goal: The Son Of God, The True Man. He Is The Measure Of True Humanism. An "adult" Faith Is Not A Faith That Follows The Trends Of Fashion And The Latest Novelty; A Mature Adult Faith Is Deeply Rooted In Friendship With Christ.

I Send Them My Warmest Encouragement To Persevere In The Patience And Charity Of Christ.

Terrorist Activity Is Continually Recurring In Various Parts Of The World, Sowing Death And Destruction And Plunging Many Of Our Brothers And Sisters Into Grief And Despair

It Is Deplorable That Homosexual Persons Have Been And Are The Object Of Violent Malice In Speech Or In Action. Such Treatment Deserves Condemnation From The Church's Pastors Wherever It Occurs. ... The Intrinsic Dignity Of Each Person Must Always Be Respected In Work, In Action And In Law.

The Fundamental Task Of The Evangelization Of Culture Is The Challenge To Make God Visible In The Human Face Of Jesus.

Nourishment Is A Factor Which Touches On The Fundamental Right To Life.

I Believe That The Most Important Thing...is To Revive In The Whole Church That Positive Tension, That Yearning To Announce Christ Again To Contemporary Man.

The Church Does Not Engage In Proselytism. Instead, She Grows By "attraction": Just As Christ "draws All To Himself" By The Power Of His Love, Culminating In The Sacrifice Of The Cross, So The Church Fulfills Her Mission.

Everything Is A Gift From God: It Is Only By Recognizing This Crucial Dependence On The Creator That We Will Find Freedom And Peace.

Although The Particular Inclination Of The Homosexual Person Is Not A Sin, It Is More Or Less Strong Tendency Ordered To An Intrinsic Moral Evil, And Thus The Inclination Itself Must Be Seen As An Objective Disorder.

God Loves Us Despite Our Shortcomings And Sins, And His Love Gives Meaning To Our Lives And To The Life Of The World.

The Main Task For Us All Is That Of A New Evangelization Aimed At Helping Younger Generations To Rediscover The True Face Of God, Who Is Love. To You Young People, Who Are In Search Of A Firm Hope, I Address The Very Words That Saint Paul Wrote To The Persecuted Christians In Rome At That Time: "may The God Of Hope Fill You With All Joy And Peace In Believing, So That You May Abound In Hope By The Power Of The Holy Spirit" (rom 15:13).

Which Direction Do We Take? The One Prompted By The Passions Or The One Indicated By The Star Which Shines In Your Conscience? The Magi Heard The Answer: "in Bethlehem Of Judea; For So It Is Written By The Prophet" (mt 2: 5), And, Enlightened By These Words, They Chose To Press Forward To The Very End.

We Cannot Keep To Ourselves The Words Of Eternal Life Given To Us In Our Encounter With Jesus Christ: They Are Meant For Everyone, For Every Man And Woman. ... It Is Our Responsibility To Pass On What, By God's Grace, We Ourselves Have Received.

Society Today Is Being Fragmented By A Way Of Thinking That Is Inherently Short-sighted Because It Disregards The Full Horizon Of Truth - The Truth About God And About Us. By Its Nature, Relativism Fails To See The Whole Picture. It Ignores The Very Principles That Enable Us To Live And Flourish In Unity, Order And Harmony.

Young People In Particular, I Appeal To You: Bear Witness To Your Faith Through The Digital World!....employ These New Technologies To Make The Gospel Known, So That The Good News Of God's Infinite Love For All People, Will Resound In New Ways Across Our Increasingly Technological World!

It Is The Beautiful Task Of Advent To Awaken In All Of Us Memories Of Goodness And Thus To Open Doors Of Hope.

We Must Trust In The Mighty Power Of God's Mercy. We Are All Sinners, But His Grace Transforms Us And Makes Us New.

[non-catholic Christians Are] In A Gravely Deficient Situation In Comparison With Those Who, In The [roman Catholic] Church, Have The Fullness Of The Means Of Salvation.

Our Knowledge Of Jesus Is In Need Above All Of A Living Experience: Another Person's Testimony Is Certainly Important, As In General The Whole Of Our Christian Life Begins With The Proclamation That Comes To Us From One Or Several Witnesses. But We Ourselves Must Be Personally Involved In An Intimate And Profound Relationship With Jesus.

At The Judgment, In Response To Our Questions, The Lord Will Show Us His Wounds, And We Will Understand. In The Meantime, However, He Simply Expects Us To Stand By Him And To Believe What These Wounds Tell Us, Even Though We Cannot Work Right Through The Logic Of This World.

Many People Perceive Christianity As Something Institutional - Rather Than As An Encounter With Christ - Which Explains Why They Don't See It As A Source Of Joy.

I Encourage All Of You To Discover Ever More Fully In The Eucharist, The Sacrament Of Christ's Sacrificial Love, The Inspiration And Strength Needed To Work Ever More Generously For The Spread Of God's Kingdom And The Growth Of The Civilization Of Love.

Thus, The Apostles' Adventure Began As A Gathering Of Persons Who Open To One Another Reciprocally. A Direct Knowledge Of The Teacher Began For The Disciples.

Making The Sign Of The Cross - As We Will Do During The Blessing - Means Saying A Visible And Public "yes" To The One Who Died And Rose For Us, To God Who In The Humility And Weakness Of His Love Is The Almighty, Stronger Than All The Power And Intelligence Of The World.

In The Eyes Of The Unrighteous It Appeared That God Did Not Intervene And That His Son Died, But For Believers It Was At That Precise Moment That True Glory Was Manifested And Definitive Salvation Achieved.

That The Jews Are Connected With God In A Special Way And That God Does Not Allow That Bond To Fail Is Entirely Obvious. We Wait For The Instant In Which Israel Will Say Yes To Christ, But We Know That It Has A Special Mission In History Now ... Which Is Significant For The World.

Reason Always Stands In Need Of Being Purified By Faith

While We Too Always Seek Other Signs, Other Wonders, We Do Not Realize That He Is The Real Sign, God Made Flesh; He Is The Greatest Miracle Of The Universe: All The Love Of God Hidden In A Human Heart, In A Human Face.

The Church Is Not An Association That Wishes To Promote A Certain Cause. It Is Not About A Cause. It Is About The Person Of Jesus Christ.

The Church Needs Your Faith, Your Idealism And Your Generosity, So That She Can Always Be Young In The Spirit.

Islam Has A Total Organization Of Life That Is Completely Different From Ours; It Embraces Simply Everything,...there Is A Very Marked Subordination Of Woman To Man; There Is A Very Tightly Knit Criminal Law, Indeed, A Law Regulating All Areas Of Life, That Is Opposed To Our Modern Ideas About Society. One Has To Have A Clear Understanding That It Is Not Simply A Denomination That Can Be Included In The Free Realm Of A Pluralistic Society.

In An Ever More Open World, Building Peace Through Dialogue Is No Longer A Choice But A Necessity!

[evangelization] Is Not Something Optional, But The Very Vocation Of The People Of God, A Duty That Corresponds To It By The Command Of The Lord Jesus Christ Himself

Do Not Be Afraid Of Seeming Different And Being Criticized For What Might Seem To Be Losing Or Out Of Fashion; Your Peers But Adults Too, Especially Those Who Seem More Distant From The Mindset And Values Of The Gospel, Are Crying Out To See Someone Who Dares To Live According To The Fullness Of Humanity Revealed By Jesus Christ.

Dialogue Is The Fundamental Unfolding Of A Gift Of Oneself To Another.

In The Pierced Heart Of The Crucified, God's Own Heart Is Opened Up - Here We See Who God Is And What He Is Like. Heaven Is No Longer Locked Up. God Has Stepped Out Of His Hiddenness.

To Me, It Really Seems Visible Today That Ethics Is Not Something Exterior To The Economy, Which, As Technical Matter, Could Function On Its Own; Rather, Ethics Is An Interior Principle Of The Economy Itself, Which Cannot Function If It Does Not Take Account Of The Human Values Of Solidarity And Reciprocal Responsibility.

Celibacy Is Not A Matter Of Compulsion. Someone Is Accepted As A Priest Only When He Does It Of His Own Accord.

Preservation Of The Environment, Promotion Of Sustainable Development And Particular Attention To Climate Change Are Matters Of Grave Concern For The Entire Human Family. No Nation Or Business Sector Can Ignore The Ethical Implications Present In All Economic And Social Development. With Increasing Clarity Scientific Research Demonstrates That The Impact Of Human Actions In Any One Place Or Region Can Have Worldwide Effects.

The Evangelization Of The Person And Of Human Communities Depends Totally On This Encounter With Jesus Christ.

The Only Really Effective Apologia For Christianity Comes Down To Two Arguments, Namely, The Saints The Church Has Produced, And The Art Which Has Grown In Her Womb.

We Can Fall, But In The End We Fall Into God's Hands, And God's Hands Are Good Hands.

Dear Brothers And Sisters, After The Great Pope John Paul Ii, The Cardinals Have Elected Me - A Simple, Humble Worker In The Vineyard Of The Lord.

Can We Disregard The Growing Phenomenon Of "environmental Refugees", People Who Are Forced By The Degradation Of Their Natural Habitat To Forsake It - And Often Their Possessions As Well - In Order To Face The Dangers And Uncertainties Of Forced Displacement? Can We Remain Impassive In The Face Of Actual And Potential Conflicts Involving Access To Natural Resources? All These Are Issues With A Profound Impact On The Exercise Of Human Rights, Such As The Right To Life, Food, Health And Development.

Humor Is In Fact An Essential Element In The Mirth Of Creation. We Can See How, In Many Matters In Our Lives, God Wants To Prod Us Into Taking Things A Bit More Lightly.

There May Be A Basis In The Case Of Some Individuals, As Perhaps When A Male Prostitute Uses A Condom, Where This Can Be A First Step In The Direction Of A Moralisation, A First Assumption Of Responsibility...

The Gospel Purifies And Renews, It Bears Fruit, Wherever The Community Of Believers Hears It And Receives God’s Grace In Truth And Charity. This Is My Confidence, This Is My Joy.

The Glory Of God Is The Living Man, But The Life Of Man Is The Vision Of God', Says St. Irenaeus, Getting To The Heart Of What Happens When Man Meets God On The Mountain In The Wilderness. Ultimately, It Is The Very Life Of Man, Man Himself As Living Righteously, That Is The True Worship Of God, But Life Only Becomes Real Life When It Receives Its Form From Looking Toward God.

Each Of You Has A Personal Vocation Which He Has Given You For Your Own Joy And Sanctity. When A Person Is Conquered By The Fire Of His Gaze, No Sacrifice Seems Too Great To Follow Him And Give Him The Best Of Ourselves. This Is What The Saints Have Always Done, Spreading The Light Of The Lord ... And Transforming The World Into A Welcoming Home For Everyone.

The Cross Reminds Us That There Is No True Love Without Suffering, There Is No Gift Of Life Without Pain.

[the Atheist Believes] A World Marked By So Much Injustice, Innocent Suffering, And Cynicism Of Power Cannot Be The Work Of A Good God.

...the Baptized In Their Sense Of Mission, Through Prayer, The Witness Of Life And Christian Commitment In All Its Forms, So That All The Faithful May Become Missionaries In The Places Where They Live And That Vocations Will Come Forth To Proclaim The Gospel To Men Who Do Not Yet Know It.

To Make A Concrete Response To The Appeal Of Our Brothers And Sisters In Humanity, We Must Come To Grips With The First Of These Challenges: Solidarity Among Generations, Solidarity Between Countries And Entire Continents, So That All Human Beings May Share More Equitably In The Riches Of Our Planet. This Is One Of The Essential Services That People Of Good Will Must Render To Humanity. The Earth, In Fact, Can Produce Enough To Nourish All Its Inhabitants, On The Condition That The Rich Countries Do Not Keep For Themselves What Belongs To All.

The Catechism Was Not Written To Please You. It Will Not Make Life Easy For You, Because It Demands Of You A New Life.

Faith Was Intended Precisely For The Simple, But The Quest For Certainty And Simplicity Becomes Dangerous When It Leads To Fanaticism And Narrow-mindedness. When Reason As Such Becomes Suspect, Then Faith Itself Becomes Falsified.

Dear Young People, The Church Depends On You! She Needs Your Lively Faith, Your Creative Charity And The Energy Of Your Hope. Your Presence Renews, Rejuvenates And Gives New Energy To The Church.

We Are Moving Toward A Dictatorship Of Relativism Which Does Not Recognize Anything As For Certain And Which Has As Its Highest Goal One's Own Ego And One's Own Desires.

Today We Have To Learn All Over Again That Love For The Sinner And Love For The Person Who Has Been Harmed Are Correctly Balanced If I Punish The Sinner In The Form That Is Possible And Appropriate. In This Respect There Was In The Past A Change Of Mentality, In Which The Law And The Need For Punishment Were Obscured. Ultimately This Also Narrowed The Concept Of Law, Which In Fact Is Not Only Just Being Nice Or Courteous, But Is Found In The Truth. And Another Component Of The Truth Is That I Must Punish The One Who Has Sinned Against Real Love

The Church Is Not A Political Power, Nor A Political Party, But Rather A Moral Reality, A Moral Force.

We Were Looking For A 'good Shepherd,' And Instead We Got A German Shepherd.

If Only Everyone Could Experience The Joy Of Being Christian, Being Loved By God Who Gave His Son For Us!

In Silence, We Are Better Able To Listen To And Understand Ourselves; Ideas Come To Birth And Acquire Depth... Deeper Reflection Helps Us To Discover The Links Between Events That At First Sight Seem Unconnected... For This To Happen, It Is Necessary To Develop An Appropriate Environment, A Kind Of 'eco-system' That Maintains A Just Equilibrium Between Silence, Words, Images And Sounds.

I Thank Missio, (pontifical Mission Societies), The Primary Instruments For Cooperation In The Universal Church's Universal Mission In The World. Through Their Action, The Proclamation Of The Gospel Bears Witness To Christ And Is Lived Out In Service Of Our Neighbour Through Justice For The Poorest, Education In Isolated Villages, Medical Care In Remote Areas, Freedom From Poverty, The Reintegration Of The Marginalised, Support For The Development Of Peoples, The Breaking Down Of Ethnic Divisions And Respect For Life In All Its Stages.

Evil Draws Its Power From Indecision And Concern For What Other People Think.

Too Often, Attention Is Diverted From The Needs Of Populations, Insufficient Emphasis Is Placed On Work In The Fields, And The Goods Of The Earth Are Not Given Adequate Protection. As A Result, Economic Imbalance Is Produced, And The Inalienable Rights And Dignity Of Every Human Person Are Ignored.

An Adult Faith Does Not Follow The Waves Of Fashion And The Latest Novelties.

The Real 'action' In The Liturgy In Which We Are All Supposed To Participate Is The Action Of God Himself. This Is What Is New And Distinctive About The Christian Liturgy: God Himself Acts And Does What Is Essential.

Est Autem Fides Sperandarum Substantia Rerum, Argumentum Non Apparentium. – Faith Is The Hypostasis Of Things Hoped For; The Proof Of Things Not Seen.

The Church Must Never Be Satisfied With The Ranks Of Those Whom She Has Reached At A Certain Point Or Say That Others Are Fine As They Are: Muslims, Hindus And So Forth. The Church Can Never Retreat Comfortably To Within The Limits Of Her Own Environment. She Is Charged With Universal Solicitude; She Must Be Concerned With And For One And All... We Must... As The Lord Says - Go Out Ever Anew 'to The Highways And Hedges' (luke 14:23), To Deliver God's Invitation To His Banquet Also To Those Who Have So Far Heard Nothing Or Have Not Been Stirred Within.

The Eucharistic Sacrifice Of The Body And Blood Of Christ Embraces In Turn The Mystery Of Our Lord's Continuing Passion In The Members Of His Mystical Body, The Church In Every Age.

Believing Is Nothing Other Than, In The Darkness Of The World, Touching The Hand Of God, And In This Way, In Silence, Hearing The Word, Seeing Love.

The Current Economic Crisis...has Numerous Causes And Sends A Powerful Message About The Need For A Profound Revision Of The Model Of Global Economic Development. It's An Acute Symptom That Is Added To Other More Grave And Already Well-known Ones, Such As The Continued Imbalance Between Wealth And Poverty, The Scandal Of Hunger, The Ecological Emergency And The Problem Of Unemployment, Which Has Now Become General. In This Context A Strategic Re-launching Of Agriculture Appears Decisive.

I Am Simply A Pilgrim Beginning The Last Leg Of His Pilgrimage On This Earth.

Both Strength Of Mind And Body Are Necessary, Strengths Which In The Last Few Months Have Deteriorated In Me To The Extent That I Have Had To Recognize My Incapacity To Adequately Fulfill The Ministry Entrusted To Me.

From The Point Of View Of The Christian Faith, Man Comes In The Profoundest Sense To Himself Not Through What He Does But Through What He Accepts. He Must Wait For The Gift Of Love, And Love Can Only Be Received As A Gift... One Must Wait For It, Let It Be Given To One. And One Cannot Become Wholly Man In Any Other Way Than By Being Loved, By Letting Oneself Be Loved... If He Declines To Let Himself Be Presented With The Gift, Then He Destroys Himself.

If In My Life I Fail Completely To Heed Others, Solely Out Of A Desire To Be 'devout' And To Perform My 'religious Duties', Then My Relationship With God Will Also Grow Arid. It Becomes Merely 'proper', But Loveless.

How Much We Need, In The Church And In Society, Witnesses Of The Beauty Of Holiness, Witnesses Of The Splendour Of Truth, Witnesses Of The Joy And Freedom Born Of A Living Relationship With Christ!

A Theologian Who Does Not Love Art, Poetry, Music And Nature Can Be Dangerous. Blindness And Deafness Toward The Beautiful Are Not Incidental; They Necessarily Are Reflected In His Theology.

Dear Young People, We Have Seen That It Is The Holy Spirit Who Brings About The Wonderful Communion Of Believers In Jesus Christ. True To His Nature As Giver And Gift Alike, He Is Even Now Working Through You. Let Unifying Love Be Your Measure; Abiding Love Your Challenge; Self-giving Love Your Mission!

One Doesn't Begin To Be A Christian Because Of An Ethical Decision Or A Great Idea, But Rather Because Of An Encounter With An Event, With A Person, Who Gives New Horizons To Life, And With That, A Decisive Orientation.

Do Not Believe That Living Together Before Marriage Guarantees The Future. By Burning Certain Stages, You Risk Burning Love Itself. Time Needs To Be Respected Gradually, Just Like The Expressions Of Love.

When Politicians Presume To Do God's Work, They Do Not Become Divine But Diabolical.

During The Season Of Lent Which Begins Today, We Renew Our Commitment To The Path Of Conversion, Making More Room For God In Our Lives.

Society As A Whole Must Defend The Conceived Child's Right To Life And The True Good Of The Woman Who Can Never, In Any Circumstances, Find Fulfilment In The Decision To Abort.

Without Fear We Must Set Sail On The Digital Sea.

The Life Of The Community, Both Domestically And Internationally, Clearly Demonstrates That Respect For Rights, And The Guarantees That Follow From Them, Are Measures Of The Common Good That Serve To Evaluate The Relationship Between Justice And Injustice, Development And Poverty, Security And Conflict.

Guarantees That

If Jesus Has Become Your Hope, Communicate This To Others With Your Joy And Your Spiritual, Apostolic And Social Engagement. Let Christ Dwell Within You, And Having Placed All Your Faith And Trust In Him, Spread This Hope Around You. Make Choices That Demonstrate Your Faith.

I Think In Particular Of Our Need To Speak To The Hearts Of Young People, Who, Despite Their Constant Exposure To Messages Contrary To The Gospel, Continue To Thirst For Authenticity, Goodness And Truth. Much Remains To Be Done, Particularly On The Level Of Preaching And Catechesis In Parishes And Schools, If The New Evangelization Is To Bear Fruit For The Renewal Of Ecclesial Life In America.

The "door Of Faith" (acts 14:27) Is Always Open For Us, Ushering Us Into The Life Of Communion With God And Offering Entry Into His Church. It Is Possible To Cross That Threshold When The Word Of God Is Proclaimed And The Heart Allows Itself To Be Shaped By Transforming Grace. To Enter Through That Door Is To Set Out On A Journey That Lasts A Lifetime.

The Catholic Community Must Offer Support To Those Women Who May Find It Difficult To Accept A Child, Above All When They Are Isolated From Their Family And Friends. Likewise, The Community Should Be Open To Welcome Back All Who Repent Of Having Participated In The Grave Sin Of Abortion, And Should Guide Them With Pastoral Charity To Accept The Grace Of Forgiveness, The Need For Penance, And The Joy Of Entering Once More Into The New Life Of Christ.

The More Ardent The Love For The Eucharist In The Hearts Of The Christian People, The More Clearly Will They Recognize The Goal Of All Mission: To Bring Christ To Others. Not Just A Theory Or A Way Of Life Inspired By Christ, But The Gift Of His Very Person. Anyone Who Has Not Shared The Truth Of Love With His Brothers And Sisters Has Not Yet Given Enough.

I Am Consoled By The Fact That The Lord Knows How To Work And How To Act, Even With Insufficient Tools.

Do You Want To Know Yourself Better? Then Discover Silence.

There Is Nothing More Beautiful Than To Be Surprised By The Gospel, By The Encounter With Christ. There Is Nothing More Beautiful Than To Know Him And To Speak To Others Of Our Friendship With Him.

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