Pope Benedict XVI

“Idolatry is not just a relic of the pagan past. It is a present-day temptation.”

“It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.”

“Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church is often labeled today as fundamentalism... Whereas relativism... looks like the only attitude acceptable to today's standards.”

“The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.”

“We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires.”

“To be Christian is not a burden, but a gift; and to have found the Lord is the best thing that has happened in our lives.”

“Holiness does not consist in never having erred or sinned.”

“The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life.”

“The capacity to accept suffering for the sake of goodness, truth and justice is an essential criterion of humanity.”

“If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great.”

“Truth is not determined by a majority vote.”

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

“Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.”

“The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.”

“Faith is not a theory, a philosophy, or an idea. It is an encounter, a relationship, an event.”

“Violence does not build up the kingdom of God, the kingdom of humanity. On the contrary, it is a favorite instrument of the Antichrist, however idealistic its religious motivation may be.”

“God’s love is not a faint shadow of human love. It is the original of which all human love is only a faint and often distorted reflection.”

“Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave.”