- Homily, 5 April 2012
17 February 2015
The right to freedom of religion, both in its private
and in its public dimension, manifests the unity of the human person,
who is at once a citizen and a believer. It also legitimizes the fact
that believers have a contribution to make to the building up of
society. Strengthening religious freedom consolidates social bonds,
nourishes the hope of a better world, creates favourable conditions for
peace and harmonious development, while at the same time establishing
solid foundations for securing the rights of future generations.
- Homily, 28 March 2012
The disciple of Jesus does not respond to evil with evil, but is always an instrument of good instead, a herald of pardon, a bearer of happiness, a servant of unity. He wishes to write in each of your lives a story of friendship. Hold on to him, then, as the best of friends. He will never tire of speaking to those who always love and who do good. This you will hear, if you strive in each moment to be with him who will help you in more difficult situations.
- Meeting with Young People, 24 March 2012
God wants us to be happy always. He knows us and he loves us. If we
allow the love of Christ to change our heart, then we can change the
world. This is the secret of authentic happiness.
- Meeting with Young People, 24 March 2012
A yearning for joy lurks within the heart of every man
and woman. Far more than immediate and fleeting feelings of
satisfaction, our hearts seek a perfect, full and lasting joy capable of
giving “flavour” to our existence. This is particularly true for you,
because youth is a time of continuous discovery of life, of the world,
of others and of ourselves. It is a time of openness to the future and
of great longing for happiness, friendship, sharing and truth, a time
when we are moved by high ideals and make great plans.
The Church’s vocation is to bring joy to the world, a
joy that is authentic and enduring, the joy proclaimed by the angels to
the shepherds on the night Jesus was born (cf. Lk 2:10). Not only
did God speak, not only did he accomplish great signs throughout the
history of humankind, but he drew so near to us that he became one of us
and lived our life completely. In these difficult times, so many young
people all around you need to hear that the Christian message is a
message of joy and hope! I would like to reflect with you on this joy
and on how to find it, so that you can experience it more deeply and
bring it to everyone you meet.
The faith handed down from the Apostles leads to complete freedom and joy...
- Meeting with Young People, 15 September 2012
Only forgiveness, given and received, can lay lasting foundations for reconciliation and universal peace (cf. Rom 12:16b, 18).
- Address, 15 September 2012
Our human dignity is inseparable from the sacredness of life as the gift
of the Creator. In God’s plan, each person is unique and irreplaceable.
- Address, 15 September 2012
It is here and now that we are called to celebrate the victory of love
over hate, forgiveness over revenge, service over domination, humility
over pride, and unity over division.
- Address, 14 September 2012
For Christians, to exalt the cross means to be united to the totality of
God’s unconditional love for mankind. It means making an act of faith!
To exalt the cross, against the backdrop of the resurrection, means to
desire to experience and to show the totality of this love. It means
making an act of love! To exalt the cross means to be a committed herald
of fraternal and ecclesial communion, the source of authentic Christian
witness. It means making an act of hope!
- Address, 14 September 2012
08 October 2013
Christ reigns from the Cross and, with
his arms open wide, he embraces all the peoples of the world and draws them into
unity.
- Homily, 20 November 2011
It is the crucified and glorious face of Christ which ought to
guide us, so that we may witness to his love for the world.
- Address to the Bishops of Benin, 19 November 2011
What, then, is prayer? It is a cry of love directed to God our Father,
with the will to imitate Jesus our brother. Jesus often went off by himself to
pray. Like Jesus, I too can find a calm place to pray where I can quietly stand
before a Cross or a holy picture in order to speak to Jesus and to listen to
him. I can also use the Gospels. That way, I keep within my heart a passage
which has touched me and which will guide me throughout the day. To stay with
Jesus like this for a little while lets him fill me with his love, light and
life! This love, which I receive in prayer, calls me in turn to give it to my
parents, to my friends, to everyone with whom I live, even with those who do not
like me, and those whom I do not appreciate enough.
- Meeting with children, 19 November 2011
The journey to the Grotto of Bethlehem is a journey of inner liberation,
an experience of profound freedom, because it impels us to come out of
ourselves and to go towards God who has made himself close to us, who
heartens us with his presence and with his freely-given love, who
precedes and accompanies us in our daily decisions, who speaks to us in
the secrecy of our hearts and in the Sacred Scriptures.
- Homily, 16 December 2010
Precisely for this reason, the laws and institutions of a society cannot be
shaped in such a way as to ignore the religious dimension of its citizens or to
prescind completely from it. Through the democratic activity of citizens
conscious of their lofty calling, those laws and institutions must adequately
reflect the authentic nature of the person and support its religious dimension.
Since the latter is not a creation of the state, it cannot be manipulated by the
state, but must rather be acknowledged and respected by it.
States and the various human
communities must never forget that religious freedom is the condition for the
pursuit of truth, and truth does not impose itself by violence but “by the force
of its own truth”.[10]
In this sense, religion is a positive driving force for the building of
civil and political society.
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