It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.

Ultimately, in the battle against lies and violence, truth and love have no other weapon than the witness of suffering.

The Jesus who makes everything okay for everyone is a phantom, a dream, not a real figure.

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.

The Church needs your faith, your idealism and your generosity, so that she can always be young in the Spirit.

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.

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