Quotes by Pope Francis
Welcome to our collection of quotes (with shareable picture quotes) by Pope Francis. We hope you enjoy pondering them and that you will share them widely.
Wikipedia Summary for Pope Francis
Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. Francis is the first pope to be a member of the Society of Jesus, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first pope from outside Europe since Gregory III, a Syrian who reigned in the 8th century.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio worked for a time as a bouncer and a janitor as a young man before training to be a chemist and working as a technician in a food science laboratory. After recovering from a severe illness, he was inspired to join the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1958. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969, and from 1973 to 1979 was the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina. He became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. He led the Argentine Church during the December 2001 riots in Argentina. The administrations of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner considered him to be a political rival. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Throughout his public life, Francis has been noted for his humility, emphasis on God's mercy, international visibility as pope, concern for the poor and commitment to interreligious dialogue. He is credited with having a less formal approach to the papacy than his predecessors, for instance choosing to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than in the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace used by previous popes.
Francis maintains the traditional views of the Church regarding abortion, clerical celibacy, and the ordination of women, but has initiated dialogue on the possibility of deaconesses and has made women full members of dicasteries in the Roman Curia. He maintains that the Church should be more open and welcoming for members of the LGBT community, and favors legal recognition of same-sex couples. Francis is an outspoken critic of unbridled capitalism and free market economics, consumerism, and overdevelopment, and advocates taking action on climate change, a focus of his papacy with the promulgation of Laudato si'. In international diplomacy, he helped to restore full diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba and supported the cause of refugees during the European and Central American migrant crises. Since 2018, he has been a heavily vocal opponent of neo-nationalism. He has faced criticism from theological conservatives on many questions, including his promotion of ecumenism, as well as admitting civilly divorced and remarried Catholics to communion with the publication of Amoris laetitia.
Where we find hate and darkness, may we bring love and hope, in order to give a more human face to society.
I ask everyone with political responsibility to remember two things: human dignity and the common good.
Whenever people listen to one another humbly and openly, their shared values and aspirations become all the more apparent. Diversity is no longer seen as a threat, but as a source of enrichment.
Politics is the most important of the civil activities and has its own field of action, which is not that of religion.
Human trafficking is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ...It is a crime against humanity.
Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity. They are children, women and men who leave or who are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all for being more.
The measure of the greatness of a society is found in the way it treats those most in need, those who have nothing apart from their poverty!
How many solutions are found to family problems if we take time to reflect? If we think of a husband or wife and we dream about their good qualities that they have? Don't ever lose the illusion of when you were boyfriend and girlfriend!
Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.
We have to go out and talk to people in the city who we've seen on their balconies. We have to come out of our shell and tell them that Jesus lives... to say it with joy...even though it seems a little crazy sometimes.
Jesus teaches us another way. Go out! Go out! Share your testimony, go out and interact with your brothers, go out and share, go out and ask! Become the Word in body as well as in spirit.
Terrorism grows when there are no other options, and when the center of the global economy is the god of money and not the person men and women this is already the first terrorism!
Human dignity is the same for all human beings: when I trample on the dignity of another, I am trampling on my own.
The fruits of this profound union with Jesus are marvelous: our whole being is transformed by the grace of the Holy Spirit: soul, intelligence, will, affections and even the body, because we are united in body and spirit.
The human person is in danger: this is certain, the human person is in danger today, here is the urgency of human ecology! And it is a serious danger because the cause of the problem is not superficial but profound: it is not just a matter of economics, but of ethics and anthropology.
We hear many offers from the world around us; but let us take up God's offer instead: his is a caress of love. For God, we are not numbers, we are important, indeed we are the most important thing to him; even if we are sinners, we are what is closest to his heart.
Families have a citizenship which is divine. The identity card they have is given to them by God. So that within the heart of the family, truth, goodness and beauty may truly grow.
First, we can pray in communion with the Church on earth and in heaven. Let us not underestimate the power of so many voices united in prayer!
Consumerism has accustomed us to waste. But throwing food away is like stealing it from the poor and hungry.
Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a 'disposable' culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new.
We also try to reach out to people who are far away, via digital means, the web and brief messaging.
In a family, parents, grandparents and children feel at home; no one is excluded. If someone has a problem, even a serious one, even if he brought it upon himself, the rest of the family comes to his assistance; they support him. ... Should the same not happen in society?
Today too, as at her origins, the Church... cries out:Veni, Sancte Spiritus! Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love! Amen.
Once capital becomes an idol and guides people's decisions, once greed for money presides over the entire socioeconomic system, it ruins society, it condemns and enslaves men and women, it destroys human fraternity, it sets people against one another and it even puts at risk our common home.
This is ideological colonization. They colonize people with ideas that try to change mentalities or structures, but this is not new. This was done by the dictatorships of the last century.
This 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.
It is horrific even to think that there are children, victims of abortion, who will never see the light of day.
If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?... No one should marginalize these people for this, they must be integrated into society.
I don't know how things stand in the thinking of the Italian parliament. The Pope doesn't get mixed up in Italian politics.
Let us ask Mary to help us fix our eyes intently on Jesus, to follow him always, even when this is demanding.
Sometimes we know what we have to do, but we lack the courage to do it. Let us learn from Mary how to make decisions, trusting in the Lord.
It is by God's mercy that we are saved. May we never tire of spreading this joyful message to the world.
Let us be renewed by God's mercy ... and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish.
I think that even the Mexican society is a victim of all of this, of these crimes of cleaning people, of discarding people.
I would like to say something just about the Mexican people. It is a population that has a wealth, such great wealth, a people that surprises.
There are martyrs between Mexican people, now I will canonize two. It is a population that you can't explain, you can't explain it because the word 'people' is not a logical category, it's a mythical category.
Obsession with a consumerist lifestyle, above all when few people are capable of maintaining it, can only lead to violence and mutual destruction.
To live as true children of God means to love our neighbour and to be close to those who are lonely and in difficulty.
Men and women are sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption: it is the culture of waste. If you break a computer it is a tragedy, but poverty, the needs, the dramas of so many people end up becoming the norm.
I want to see the church get closer to the people. I want to get rid of clericalism, the mundane, this closing ourselves off within ourselves, in our parishes, schools or structures. Because these need to get out!
May the power of Christ, which brings freedom and service, be felt in so many hearts afflicted by war, persecution and slavery.
If globalization seeks to bring all of us together, but to do so respecting each person, each individual person's peculiarity, that globalization is good and makes us good and grow and leads to peace.
To live charitably means not looking out for our own interests, but carrying the burdens of the weakest and poorest among us.
Humanity 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.
In the silence of the Cross, the uproar of weapons ceases and the language of reconciliation, forgiveness, dialogue and peace is spoken.
May the God of peace arouse in all an authentic desire for dialogue and reconciliation. Violence cannot be overcome with violence. Violence is overcome with peace.
May all people here find inspiration and strength to build a future of reconciliation, justice and peace for all the children of this beloved land.
Support your priests with your love and prayers, that they may always be shepherds after Christ's heart.
Too often we participate in the globalization of indifference. May we strive instead to live global solidarity.
We can study the whole history of salvation, we can study the whole of Theology, but without the Spirit we cannot understand. It is the Spirit that makes us realize the truth or -- in the words of Our Lord -- it is the Spirit that makes us know the voice of Jesus.
We need to be creative with young people. If they have no opportunities, they will get into drugs and be vulnerable to suicide.
A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel.
It is God who gives life. Let us respect and love human life, especially vulnerable life in a mother's womb.
Workers should have Sundays off because Sunday is for the family. Calling for Sundays to be a holiday.
When Christians forget about hope and tenderness they become a cold Church, that loses its sense of direction and is held back by ideologies and worldly attitudes, whereas God's simplicity tells you: go forward, I am a Father who caresses you.
Poverty is part of the natural condition and that is bad enough. But my task is to prevent the aggravation of this condition.
When I had to say something that I didn't like to Turkey, but of which I was sure, I said it, with the consequences that you all know Editor's note: a reference to his comments on the Armenian Genocide. I said these words ... I was sure.
A 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.
An evangelizing community gets involved in word and deed in people's daily lives; it bridges distances, it is willing to abase itself if necessary, and it embraces human life, touching the suffering flesh of Christ in others.
We are living in a time of many wars. The call for peace must be shouted. Peace sometimes gives the impression of being quiet, but it is never quiet. Peace if always proactive and dynamic.
Take care of brothers and sisters who are weaker ... the elderly, the sick, the hungry, the homeless and strangers, because we will be judged on this.
Do not be content to live a mediocre Christian life: walk with determination along the path of holiness.
Let us pray for all good and faithful priests who dedicate themselves to their people with generosity and unknown sacrifices.
Politics, according to the Social Doctrine of the Church, is one of the highest forms of charity, because it serves the common good. I cannot wash my hands, eh? We all have to give something!
Many people who are forced into emigration suffer and often die tragically; many of their rights are violated, they are obliged to separate from their families and, unfortunately, continue to be subjected to racist attitudes and xenophobia.
All Christians need an 'ecological conversion', whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world around them.
The Pope appeals for disinterested solidarity and for a return to person-centred ethics in the world of finance and economics.
Today in many places we hear a call for greater security. But until exclusion and inequality in society and between peoples is reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence.
Terrorism grows when there are no other options, and when the center of the global economy is the god of money and not the person -- men and women -- this is already the first terrorism!
When fundamentalism comes to kill, it can kill with the language -- the Apostle James says this, not me -- and even with a knife, no?
How many young people, how many young people of our Europe, whom we have left empty of ideals, who do not have work... they take drugs, alcohol, or go there to enlist in fundamentalist groups.
The people that does not care for its children or grandparents is a people that has not future. Because it doesn't have the strength or the memory to go forward.
I wish to make add my voice to the cry which rises up with increasing anguish from every part of the world, from every people, from the heart of each person, from the one great family which is humanity: it is the cry for peace!
Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will; or, even less, is the property of only a few: Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude.
In these cases, where there is an unjust aggression, I can only say that it is licit to stop the unjust aggressor. I emphasize the word: stop. I'm not saying drop bombs, make war, but stop the aggressor. The means used to stop him would have to be evaluated.
But always think this: do not be afraid of failure. Do not be afraid of falling. In the art of walking, what is important is not avoiding the fall but not remaining fallen.
There is so much indifference in the face of suffering. May we overcome indifference with concrete acts of charity.
Let us thank all those who teach in Catholic schools. Educating is an act of love; it is like giving life.
Let no one consider themselves to be the 'armour' of God while planning and carrying out acts of violence and oppression!
Before God and his people I express my sorrow for the sins and grave crimes of clerical sexual abuse committed against you. And I humbly ask forgiveness.
Let us go back to the Lord. The Lord never tires of forgiving: never! It is we who tire of asking his forgiveness. Let us ask for the grace not to tire of asking forgiveness, because he never tires of forgiving.
Do not forget this: the Lord never wearies of forgiving! We are the ones who weary of asking for forgiveness.
We need to 'go out,' then, in order to experience our own anointing, its power and its redemptive efficacy: to the 'outskirts' where there is suffering, bloodshed, blindness that longs for sight, and prisoners in thrall to many evil masters.
When a child has a bad dream and wakes up crying, Dad goes and says, 'Don't be afraid, don't be scared. I'm here.' The Lord speaks this way, too... Usually, Christmas seems like a very noisy feast, but we can use a bit of silence to hear these words of love, closeness and tenderness.
The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish.
I say only that this man Donald Trump is not Christian if he has said things like that about wall. We must see if he said things in that way and in this I give the benefit of the doubt.
A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel.
A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be -- and not building bridges -- is not Christian.
As your captain, I'm going to push you to not fall back on defense, but to play offense, and to play our match -- the Gospel, together.
How often we forget to dedicate ourselves to that which truly matters! We forget that we are children of God.
The blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to be heard by everyone who can still distinguish between good and evil.
We learn many virtues in our Christian families. Above all, we learn to love, asking nothing in return.
Christian hope is not a ghost and it does not deceive. It is a theological virtue and therefore, ultimately, a gift from God that cannot be reduced to optimism, which is only human. God does not mislead hope; God cannot deny himself. God is all promise.
Christian marriage is that sacrament which builds up the community of the Church and of society. Marriage has been inscribed in creation's design by God, and, by his grace, countless Christian men and women have lived married life fully.
While all too many people live in dire poverty, others are caught up in materialism and lifestyles which are destructive of family life and the most basic demands of Christian morality.
Let's pray for whole world that there be brotherhood. I hope this journey of the church we begin today is fruitful for evangelization.
Fathers are so necessary as examples and guides for our children in wisdom and virtue. Without father figures, young people often feel orphaned; left adrift at a critical moment in their growth and development.
If my good friend Dr. Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch. It's normal. It's normal.
It is the attitude of some leaders of God's people; they continually scold others, hurl reproaches at them, tell them to be quiet. ... 'Madam, take your crying child out of the church as I am preaching.' As if the cries of a child were not a sublime homily.
How many kinds of moral and material poverty we face today as a result of denying God and putting so many idols in his place!
The growth of equality… calls for decisions, mechanisms and processes directed to a better distribution of wealth, the creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor, which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality.
Our faith in Christ, who became poor, and was always close to the poor and the outcast, is the basis of our
concern for the integral development of society's most neglected members.
We proclaim the resurrection of Christ when his light illuminates the dark moments of our existence, and we are able share it with others.
There is no worse material poverty, I am keen to stress, than the poverty which prevents people from earning their bread and deprives them of the dignity of work.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Church loves you! Be an active presence in the community, as living cells, as living stones.
An authentic faith-which is never comfortable or completely personal-always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better than we found it.
I have heard it said that families with many children and high birth rates are among the cause of poverty. It seems to me a simplistic opinion. I can say that the main cause of poverty is an economic system that has removed the person from the center.
On a positive note, we must reaffirm the right of children to grow up in a family with a father and a mother capable of creating a suitable environment for the child's development and emotional maturity.
Environmental degradation is one of the biggest challenges we have. I think a question that we're not asking ourselves is: 'Isn't humanity committing suicide with this indiscriminate and tyrannical use of nature?'
Jesus speaks in the silence of the mystery of the Eucharist and reminds us each time that following him means going out of ourselves and making our lives not something we 'possess,' but a gift to him and to others.
Breathing is made up of two stages: inhaling, the intake of air, and exhaling, the letting out of air. The spiritual life is fed, nourished, by prayer and is expressed outwardly through mission: inhaling and exhaling. When we inhale, by prayer, we receive the fresh air of the Holy Spirit.
We cannot give up in the face of evil. God is Love and he has defeated evil through Christ's death and resurrection.
Let us ask Mary to help us respond to violence, to conflict and to war, with the power of dialogue, reconciliation and love. She is our mother: may she help us to find peace; all of us are her children!
