Let us never forget that it is the Lord who guides the Church. He is the one who makes our apostolates fruitful.

This happens today: if the investments in the banks fall slightly... a tragedy... what can be done? But if people die of hunger, if they have nothing eat, if they have poor health, it does not matter! This is our crisis today!

One form of prayer moves us particularly to take up the task of evangelization and to seek the good of others: it is the prayer of intercession. Let us peer for a moment into the heart of Saint Paul, to see what his prayer was like. It was full of people: "...I constantly pray with you in every one of my prayers for all of you... because I hold you in my heart" (Phil 1:4, 7). Here we see that intercessory prayer does not divert us from true contemplation, since authentic contemplation always has a place for others.

When we do not adore God, we adore something else. Money and power are false idols which often take the place of God.

Jesus understands our weaknesses and sins; and he forgives us if we allow ourselves to be forgiven.

The Pope doesn't get mixed up in Italian politics.

To protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love is to open up a horizon of hope.