Quotes from Pope Benedict XVI

The reality of the Eucharistic sacrifice has always been at the heart of Catholic faith; called into question in the 16th century, it was solemnly reaffirmed at the Council of Trent against the backdrop of our justification in Christ.

True friends challenge us and help us to be faithful on our journey.

Liturgy, in truth, is an event by means of which we let ourselves be introduced into the expansive faith and prayer of the Church. This is the reason why the early Christians prayed facing east, in the direction of the rising sun, the symbol of the returning Christ.

Humor is in fact an essential element in the mirth of creation. We can see how, in many matters in our lives, God wants to prod us into taking things a bit more lightly.

Attempts to construct an ethic from the rules of evolution, or from psychology and sociology, end up being simply inadequate.

The myth of my solitude makes me laugh.

Celibacy is not a matter of compulsion. Someone is accepted as a priest only when he does it of his own accord.

The Cross is the approbation of our existence, not in words, but in an act so completely radical that it caused God to become flesh and pierced this flesh to the quick; that, to God, it was worth the death of his incarnate Son.

The outpouring of Christ's blood is the source of the church's life.

One sees in Latin America, and also elsewhere, among many Catholics a certain schizophrenia between individual and public morality.

The human person finds his perfection "in seeking and loving what is true and good.

There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere.