The first setting in which faith enlightens the human city is the family.

For the sake of peace, religious beliefs must never be allowed to be abused in the cause of violence and war.

To use a telling phrase of the Reverend Martin Luther King, we can say that we have defaulted on a promissory note and now is the time to honor it.

Christmas is joy, religious joy, an inner joy of light and peace.

The great danger in today's world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor.

I like to say that women are those who form life in their wombs - and this is a comparison I make - they have this charism of giving you things you can build with.

The youth say stupid things and they say good things, as we do, as everyone does. But hear them, speak with them, because we must learn from them and they must learn from me, from us.