Lord, with so much violence in Iraq, may we persevere in our prayer and generosity.

Among us, who is above must be in service of the others. This doesn't mean we have to wash each other's feet every day, but we must help one another.

Christian hope is not a ghost and it does not deceive. It is a theological virtue and therefore, ultimately, a gift from God that cannot be reduced to optimism, which is only human. God does not mislead hope; God cannot deny himself. God is all promise.

Holy Mother Church teaches us to end the year and also our days with an examination of conscience...to be grateful and to ask for forgiveness.

Dear young friends, learn to pray every day: this is the way to know Jesus and invite him into your lives.

The security of faith does not make us motionless or close us off, but sends us forth to bear witness and to dialogue with all people.

In mission, also on a continental level, it is very important to reaffirm the family, which remains the essential cell of society and the Church; young people, who are the face of the Church's future; women, who play a fundamental role in passing on the faith and who are a daily source of strength in a society that carries this faith forward and renews it.