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Pope Benedict XVI Quotes - Page 10

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A united humanity will be able to confront the many troubling problems of the present time: from the menace of terrorism to the humiliating poverty in which millions of human beings live, from the proliferation of

A united humanity will be able to confront the many troubling problems of the present time: from the menace of terrorism to the humiliating poverty in which millions of human beings live, from the proliferation of weapons to the pandemics and the environmental destruction which threatens the future of our planet.

Pope Benedict XVI
Religious, Humanity, Environmental
Pope Benedict XVI's Urbi et Orbi Message, press.vatican.va. December 25, 2005.

Forgiveness is not substitute for justice.

Pope Benedict XVI
Justice, Substitutes
"Pope: ‘The greatest threat comes from sin within the church’". www.digitaljournal.com. May 11, 2010.

Dear young people, let me now ask you a question. What will you leave to the next generation? Are you building your lives on firm foundations, building something that will endure?

Pope Benedict XVI
People, Foundation, Generations

Over the pope as expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority, there stands one's own conscience which must be obeyed before all else, even if necessary against the requirement of ecclesiastical authority.

Pope Benedict XVI
Expression, Requirements, Pope

Preservation of the environment, promotion of sustainable development and particular attention to climate change are matters of grave concern for the entire human family.

Pope Benedict XVI
Climate, Attention, Development
Pope Benedict XVI (2014). “The Garden of God”, p.19, CUA Press

Society as a whole must defend the conceived child's right to life and the true good of the woman who can never, in any circumstances, find fulfilment in the decision to abort.

Pope Benedict XVI
Children, Decision, Circumstances

After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.

Pope Benedict XVI
Exercise, Age, Ministry
Pope Benedict XVI’s Resignation Speech, w2.vatican.va. February 10, 2013.

Prayer itself, born in Catholic families, nurtured by programs of Christian formation, strengthened by the grace of the sacraments, is the first means by which we come to know the Lord’s will for our lives. To the extent that we teach young people to pray, and to pray well, we will be cooperating with God’s call. Programs, plans and projects have their place; but the discernment of a vocation is above all the fruit of an intimate dialogue between the Lord and his disciples. Young people, if they know how to pray, can be trusted to know what to do with God’s call.

Pope Benedict XVI
Christian, Prayer, Mean
Pope Benedict XVI (2008). “Pope Benedict in America: The Full Texts of Papal Talks Given During His Apostolic Visit to the United States”, p.58, Ignatius Press

Sometimes we are looked upon as people who speak only of prohibitions. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Pope Benedict XVI
People, Sometimes, Speak
Pope Benedict XVI (2008). “Pope Benedict in America: The Full Texts of Papal Talks Given During His Apostolic Visit to the United States”, p.130, Ignatius Press

The world needs transparent lives, clear souls, pure minds that refuse to be perceived as mere objects of pleasure.

Pope Benedict XVI
Faith, Inspiration, Soul
Pope Benedict XVI (2011). “Holiness Is Always in Season”, p.320, Ignatius Press

Eternity is not an unending succession of days in the calendar, but something more like the supreme moment of satisfaction, in which totality embraces us and we embrace totality.

Pope Benedict XVI
Faith, Inspiration, Calendars

Our world has grown weary of greed, exploitation and division, of the tedium of false idols and piecemeal responses, and the pain of false promises.

Pope Benedict XVI
Pain, Our World, Idols
Pope Benedict XVI (2014). “The Garden of God”, p.26, CUA Press

Christ had a specific evangelizing goal in mind when he prayed at the Last Supper that all his disciples 'be one...'The Church's evangelizing mission, therefore, moves along the path of ecumenism, the path of unity of faith, of evangelical witness and authentic fraternity.

Pope Benedict XVI
Moving, Goal, Unity

Violence against even one human being is violence against all.

Pope Benedict XVI
Faith, Inspiration, Violence

To be sure, it was not Easter Sunday but Holy Saturday, but, the more I reflect on it, the more this seems to be fitting for the nature of our human life: we are still awaiting Easter; we are not yet standing in the full light but walking toward it full of trust.

Pope Benedict XVI
Easter, Sunday, Light
Pope Benedict XVI (1998). “Milestones: Memoirs, 1927-1977”, p.6, Ignatius Press

Faith is above all a personal, intimate encounter with Jesus, and to experience [His] closeness, [His] friendship, [His] Love; only in this way does one learn to know [Him] ever more, and to love and follow [Him] ever more. May this happen to each one of us.

Pope Benedict XVI
Jesus, Encounters, Doe

The need to proclaim Christ boldly and courageously is a continuing priority for the Church; indeed it is a solemn duty laid upon her by Christ who enjoined the Apostles to 'go out to the whole world, proclaim the Good News to all creation.'

Pope Benedict XVI
Priorities, Church, Needs

When, in adoration, we look at the consecrated Host, the sign of creation speaks to us. And so, we encounter the greatness of his gift; but we also encounter the Passion, the Cross of Jesus and his Resurrection. Through this gaze of adoration, he draws us toward himself, within his mystery, through which he wants to transform us as he transformed the Host.

Pope Benedict XVI
Jesus, Passion, Greatness
Pope Benedict XVI (2010). “Heart of the Christian Life: Thoughts on the Holy Mass”, p.54, Ignatius Press

Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is more or less strong tendency ordered to an intrinsic moral evil, and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.

Pope Benedict XVI
Strong, Evil, Moral

The abuse of faith has to be resisted precisely.

Pope Benedict XVI
Abuse

I urge you to continue your fraternal cooperation with one another in the spirit of the community of Christ's disciples, united in your love for him and in the Gospel that you proclaim.

Pope Benedict XVI
Community, Spirit, Cooperation

God is alive. He has created every one of us, and he knows us all. He is so great that He has time for the little things in our lives: “Every hair of your head is numbered”. God is alive, and makes sense to become a priest: the world needs priests, pastors, today, tomorrow and always, until the end of time.

Pope Benedict XVI
Hair, Littles, Today
Letter to Seminarians, w2.vatican.va. October 18, 2010.

Popular piety is one of our strengths because it consists of prayers deeply rooted in people's hearts. These prayers even move the hearts of people who are somewhat cut off from the life of the Church and who have no special understanding of faith. All that is required is to 'illuminate' these actions and 'purify' this tradition so that it may become part of the life of the Church today.

Pope Benedict XVI
Prayer, Moving, Heart
Pope Benedict XVI (2008). “Questions and Answers”, p.103, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing

Indeed, beauty is one of mankind's greatest needs; it is the root from which the branches of our peace and the fruits of our hope come forth. Beauty also reveals God because, like him, a work of beauty is pure gratuity; it calls us to freedom and draws us away from selfishness.

Pope Benedict XVI
Roots, Selfishness, Needs
Pope Benedict XVI's Holy Mass With Dedication Of The Church Of The Sagrada Familia And Of The Altar, w2.vatican.va. November 7, 2010.

In the desert we rediscover the value of what is essential for living; thus in today's world there are innumerable signs, often expressed implicitly or negatively, of the thirst for God, for the ultimate meaning of life. And in the desert people of faith are needed who, by the example of their own lives, point out the way to the Promised Land and keep hope alive.

Pope Benedict XVI
Land, People, Today

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