Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty. Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self-denial is real without this dimension of penance. I distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt.

The one thing that the Catholic Church desires, and that I seek as Bishop of Rome, “the Church which presides in charity”, is communion with the Orthodox Churches.

Advent increases our hope, a hope which does not disappoint. The Lord never lets us down.

The thing the Church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful.

As always, the ones who aren't saints make the most noise...a single tree falling makes a sound, but a whole forest growing doesn't.

We need to see each child as a gift to be welcomed, cherished, and protected.

To be friends with God means to pray with simplicity, like children talking to their parents.