When money, instead of man, is at the center of the system, when money becomes an idol, men and women are reduced to simple instruments of a social and economic system, which is characterized, better yet dominated, by profound inequalities. So we discard whatever is not useful to this logic; it is this attitude that discards children and older people, and is now affecting the young.
Pope FrancisChrist’s love and friendship are no illusion. On the Cross Jesus showed how real they are.
Pope FrancisIt's best to not confuse optimism with hope. Optimism is a psychological attitude toward life. Hope goes further. It is an anchor that one hurls toward the future, it's what lets you pull on the line and reach what you're aiming for and head in the right direction. Hope is also theological: God is there, too.
Pope FrancisIn Europe first and now in America, elected men have taken it upon themselves to indebt their people to create an atmosphere of dependency. And why? For their own selfish need to increase their own personal power.
Pope FrancisChristians know how to face difficulties, trials and defeat with serenity and hope in the Lord.
Pope FrancisThis is God's way, the way of humility. It is the way of Jesus; there is no other. And there can be no humility without humiliation.
Pope FrancisIt seems that humanity is incapable of putting a halt to the shedding of innocent blood.
Pope FrancisIt is the disease of cowards, who do not have the courage to speak upfront and so talk behind one's back... Watch out against the terrorism of gossip!
Pope FrancisLife once conceived, must be protected with the utmost care; abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.
Pope FrancisPoverty calls us to sow hope.... Poverty is the flesh of the poor Jesus, in that child who is hungry, in the one who is sick, in those unjust social structures.
Pope FrancisThis is important: to get to know people, listen, expand the circle of ideas. The world is crisscrossed by roads that come closer together and move apart, but the important thing is that they lead towards the Good.
Pope FrancisLet us never forget that it is the Lord who guides the Church. He is the one who makes our apostolates fruitful.
Pope FrancisMen and women are sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption: it is the 'culture of waste.' If a computer breaks it is a tragedy, but poverty, the needs and dramas of so many people end up being considered normal. ... When the stock market drops 10 points in some cities, it constitutes a tragedy. Someone who dies is not news, but lowering income by 10 points is a tragedy! In this way people are thrown aside as if they were trash.
Pope FrancisOur deepest joy comes from Christ: remaining with him, walking with him, being his disciples.
Pope FrancisThe crucifix does not signify defeat or failure. It reveals to us the Love that overcomes evil and sin.
Pope FrancisBeing a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others, and this can happen unexpectedly and in any place: on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey.
Pope FrancisTo live as true children of God means to love our neighbour and to be close to those who are lonely and in difficulty
Pope FrancisI made reference continuously to the killings, the death, the life taken by all of these narcotrafficking gangs and human smugglers. I spoke of this problem as one of the wounds that Mexico suffers. It's a great pain that I'm taking, because this nation [Mexicans] doesn't deserve a drama like this one.
Pope FrancisI like it when someone tells me: 'I don't agree.' This is a true collaborator. When they say 'Oh, how great, how great, how great,' that's not useful.
Pope FrancisRemembrance saves a people's soul from whatever or whoever would attempt to dominate it or use it for their interests.
Pope FrancisA Church without women is like the college of the Apostles without Mary... Our Lady is more important than the Apostles! She is more important! The Church is feminine. She is Church, she is bride, she is mother.
Pope Francis"Do you love me?"; "Are you my friend?". The One who scrutinizes hearts (cf. Rom 8:27), makes himself a beggar of love and questions us on the one truly essential issue, a premiss and condition for feeding his sheep, his lambs, his Church. May every ministry be based on this intimacy with the Lord; living from him is the measure of our ecclesial service which is expressed in the readiness to obey, to humble ourselves, as we heard in the Letter to the Philippians, and for the total gift of self.
Pope FrancisAnyone who wants to be pope doesn't care much for themselves, God doesn't bless them. I didn't want to be pope.
Pope FrancisI like to speak with the youth, and I like to hear the youth. They always put me in difficulty. They tell me things that I haven't thought of, or that I've partly thought of. The restless youth, the creative youth, I like them!
Pope FrancisAt this time of crisis we cannot be concerned solely with ourselves, withdrawing into loneliness, discouragement and a sense of powerlessness in the face of problems. Please do not withdraw into yourselves! This is a danger: we shut ourselves up in the parish, with our friends, within the movement, with the like-minded... but do you know what happens? When the Church becomes closed, she becomes an ailing Church, she falls ill! That is a danger. . . .A Church closed in on herself is the same, a sick Church.
Pope FrancisWe have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.
Pope FrancisSometimes negative news does come out, but it is often exaggerated and manipulated to spread scandal. Journalists sometimes risk becoming ill from coprophilia and thus fomenting coprophagia: which is a sin that taints all men and women, that is, the tendency to focus on the negative rather than the positive aspects.
Pope FrancisWe need to reflect with great seriousness about why many young people don't feel like getting married... For fear of failure, many do not want to even think about it... Many people believe the change that has taken place in recent decades was set in motion by the emancipation of women. But this argument is not valid, it is an insult, a form of misogyny.
Pope FrancisIt means caring for one another in our families: husbands and wives first protect one another, and then, as parents, they care for their children, and children themselves, in time, protect their parents.
Pope FrancisLike the Good Samaritan, may we not be ashamed of touching the wounds of those who suffer, but try to heal them with concrete acts of love.
Pope FrancisI would like a more missionary church,Not so much a tranquil church, but a beautiful church that goes forward.
Pope FrancisThere is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, they are persons, they are not some vague idea in the clouds. This God spray does not exist! The three persons exist!
Pope FrancisI love it when people can actually engage with the materials of the sacrament in advance.
Pope FrancisThe one who listens attentively to the Word of God and truly prays, always asks the Lord: what is your will for me?
Pope FrancisIf, in your relationship with the Lord, you do not feel that He loves you tenderly, you are missing something, you still have not understood what grace is, you have not yet received grace which is this closeness.
Pope Francis