I do not know what might be the most fitting description.... I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner. And this is what I said when they asked me if I would accept my election as pontiff: I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I accept in a spirit of penance.
Pope FrancisThe 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.
Pope FrancisNo one can remain insensitive to the inequalities that persist in the world ... the Brazilian people, particularly the humblest among you, can offer the world a valuable lesson in solidarity, a word that is too often forgotten or silenced because it is uncomfortable ... I would like to make an appeal to those in possession of greater resources, to public authorities and to all people of good will who are working for social justice: never tire of working for a more just world, marked by greater solidarity
Pope FrancisThe Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! 'Father, the atheists?' Even the atheists. Everyone!
Pope FrancisThe Saints were not superhuman. They were people who loved God in their hearts, and who shared this joy with others.
Pope FrancisThe worldwide financial and economic crisis seems to highlight their distortions and above all the gravely deficient human perspective, which reduces man to one of his needs alone, namely, consumption. Worse yet, human beings themselves are nowadays considered as consumer goods which can be used and thrown away.
Pope FrancisWork is fundamental to the dignity of the person. Work, to use an image, 'anoints' with dignity, fills us with dignity, makes us similar to God who has worked and still works, who always acts.
Pope FrancisChristians are those who let God clothe them with goodness and mercy, with Christ, so as to become, like Christ, servants of God and others.
Pope FrancisWe have so much information but maybe we don’t know what to do with that information. So we run the risk of becoming museums of young people who have everything but not knowing what to do with it. We don’t need young museums but we do need holy young people.
Pope FrancisFollowing Jesus means taking up one's own cross to accompany him on his path, an uncomfortable path that is not one of success or earthly glory, but which leads to true freedom, the freedom from selfishness and sin.
Pope FrancisThere is another form of poverty! It is the spiritual poverty of our time, which afflicts the so-called richer countries particularly seriously.
Pope FrancisEvery threat to the family is a threat to society itself. So protect your families! See in them your country’s greatest treasure and nourish them always by prayer and the grace of the sacraments.
Pope FrancisHumanity needs justice, peace and love and we can have this only by returning with our hearts towards God who is the source of all this.
Pope FrancisWe ask for peace and freedom for the many men and women subject to old and new forms of enslavement on the part of criminal individuals and groups.
Pope FrancisMay the power of Christ, which brings freedom and service, be felt in so many hearts afflicted by war, persecution and slavery.
Pope FrancisThe Pope is a man. The Pope needs the input of women, too. And the Pope, too, has a heart that can have a healthy, holy friendship with a woman.
Pope FrancisLet the Church always be a place of mercy and hope, where everyone is welcomed, loved and forgiven.
Pope FrancisFaith is not a light which scatters all our darkness, but a lamp which guides our steps in the night and suffices for the journey. To those who suffer, God does not provide arguments which explain everything; rather, his response is that of an accompanying presence, a history of goodness which touches every story of suffering and opens up a ray of light.
Pope FrancisTo be a mother is a great treasure. Mothers, in their unconditional and sacrificial love for their children, are the antidote to individualism; they are the greatest enemies against war.
Pope FrancisThe secret of Christian living is love. Only love fills the empty spaces caused by evil.
Pope FrancisIn the Pro-Eligendo Pontefice Mass, despite knowing that [ Joseph Ratzinger] was a candidate [to become Pope], he wasn't stupid, he didn't care to "make-up" his answer, he said exactly the same thing [that we needed to clean up the dirt of the Church]. He was the brave one who helped so many open this door. So, I want to remember him because sometimes we forget about this hidden works that were the foundations for "taking the lid off the pot."
Pope FrancisWe cannot be Christians part-time. If Christ is at the center of our lives, he is present in all that we do.
Pope FrancisThe media only writes about the sinners and the scandals, he said, but that's normal, because 'a tree that falls makes more noise than a forest that grows.
Pope FrancisAll revealed truths derive from the same divine source and are to be believed with the same faith, yet some of them are more important for giving direct expression to the heart of the Gospel. In this basic core, what shines forth is the beauty of the saving love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead.
Pope FrancisBeing Christian without the Church doesn't make sense. That's why the great Paul VI, said that the most absurd dichotomy is loving Christ without the Church. To listen to Christ, but not the Church. To be with Christ, but stay at the margins of the Church. It's not possible. It's an absurd dichotomy.
Pope FrancisYou cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others.
Pope FrancisEvolution in nature is not opposed to the notion of Creation, because evolution presupposes the creation of beings that evolve.
Pope FrancisThe right to life is the first human right. Abortion is killing someone that cannot defend himself.
Pope FrancisLet us never yield to pessimism, to that bitterness that the devil offers us every day.
Pope FrancisIndifference to our neighbour and to God also represents a real temptation for us Christians. Each year during Lent we need to hear once more the voice of the prophets who cry out and trouble our conscience.
Pope FrancisImagine, to become a priest there are eight years of study and preparation, and then if after a while you can't do it, you can ask for a dispensation, you leave, and everything is OK. On the other hand, to make a sacrament (marriage), which is for your whole life, three to four conferences...Preparation for marriage is very important. It's very, very important because I believe it is something that in the Church, in common pastoral ministry, at least in my country, in South America, the Church has not valued much.
Pope Francis