We work for peace every time we exercise authority with wisdom and authentic love.

True peace can rarely be imposed from the outside; it must be born within and between communities through meetings and dialogue and then carried outward.

When we love and respect people, revealing to them their value, they can begin to come out from behind the walls that protect them.

There is a struggle inside you between these two parts. It's as if at times your heart becomes a battlefield! The secret part, full of light, seems so small and weak in the face of the discouraging and morbid part, which seems enormous and overwhelming. However, if you light a small candle in a dark room, everything is lit up. It is a matter of trusting in this little light in the deepest part of your being which can gradually chase away the darkness.

To live with Jesus is to live with the poor. To live with the poor is to live with Jesus.

I believe every act of violence is also a message that needs to be understood. Violence should not be answered just by greater violence but by real understanding. We must ask: 'Where is the violence coming from? What is its meaning?

People may come to our communities because they want to serve the poor; they will only stay once they have discovered that they themselves are poor.