Today, society does not talk about hell. It’s as if it did not exist, but it does. There is eternal punishment for those who sin and do not repent. – Pope Benedict XVI
To me, its seems necessary to rediscover – and the energy to do so exists – that even the political and economic spheres need moral responsibility, a responsibility that is born in man’s heart and, in the end, has to do with the presence or absence of God. – Pope Benedict XVI
The principle of tolerance and respect for freedom promoted by the reforms of the Second Vatican Council are today being manipulated and erroneously taken too far. – Pope Benedict XVI
The family unit is fundamental for the educational process and for the development both of individuals and states; hence there is a need for policies which promote the family and aid social cohesion and dialogue. – Pope Benedict XVI
We have to pay attention to developing well, in the correct manner, the human aspects also in the professions, in respect of other persons, in being concerned for others, which is the best way of being concerned for ourselves. – Pope Benedict XVI
Faith is not a product of reflection, nor is it even an attempt to penetrate the depths of my own being. – Pope Benedict XVI
We have to see that the human person needs the infinite. If God’s not there, if the infinite isn’t available, the human person creates its own paradises, giving the appearance of ‘infinitude’ that can only be a lie. – Pope Benedict XVI
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. – Pope Benedict XVI
God guides his church, maintains her always, and especially in difficult times. Let us never lose this vision of faith, which is the only true vision of the way of the church and the world. – Pope Benedict XVI
We must have great respect for these people who also suffer and who want to find their own way of correct living. On the other hand, to create a legal form of a kind of homosexual marriage, in reality, does not help these people. – Pope Benedict XVI
Certainly a sort of industrial use of creatures, so that geese are fed in such a way as to produce as large a liver as possible, or hens live so packed together that they become just caricatures of birds, this degrading of living creatures to a commodity seems to me in fact to contradict the relationship of mutuality that comes across in the Bible. – Pope Benedict XVI
One sees in Latin America, and also elsewhere, among many Catholics a certain schizophrenia between individual and public morality. – 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. – Pope Benedict XVI
The positive aspects of modernity are to be acknowledged unreservedly: we are all grateful for the marvellous possibilities that it has opened up for mankind and for the progress in humanity that has been granted to us. – Pope Benedict XVI
The life of the community, both domestically and internationally, clearly demonstrates that respect for rights, and the guarantees that follow from them, are measures of the common good that serve to evaluate the relationship between justice and injustice, development and poverty, security and conflict. – Pope Benedict XVI
The hatred and contempt for men, women and children that was manifested in the Shoah was a crime against God and against humanity. – Pope Benedict XVI
For me, it is one of the ‘signs of the times’ that the idea of God’s mercy is becoming increasingly central and dominant. – Pope Benedict XVI
The Eucharistic sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ embraces in turn the mystery of our Lord’s continuing passion in the members of his mystical body, the church in every age. – Pope Benedict XVI
In Latin America in general, it’s very important that Christianity not be simply a thing of reason, but also of the heart. – Pope Benedict XVI
I use both the ‘I’ and the ‘we.’ For on many, many matters, I am not simply expressing ideas that have happened to occur to Joseph Ratzinger, but I am speaking out of the common life of the Church’s communion. – Pope Benedict XVI
In the name of freedom, there has to be a correlation between rights and duties, by which every person is called to assume responsibility for his or her choices, made as a consequence of entering into relations with others. – Pope Benedict XVI
An important function of theology is to keep religion tied to reason and reason to religion. Both roles are of essential importance for humanity. – Pope Benedict XVI
I realized that everything I had to do I could not do on my own, and so I was almost obliged to put myself in God’s hands, to trust in Jesus who – while I wrote my book on him – I felt bound to by an old and more profound friendship. – Pope Benedict XVI
If the protection of the environment involves costs, they should be justly distributed, taking due account of the different levels of development of various countries and the need for solidarity with future generations. – Pope Benedict XVI
The Gospel purifies and renews: it bears fruit wherever the community of believers hears and welcomes the grace of God in truth and lives in charity. This is my faith; this is my joy. – Pope Benedict XVI
Interreligious dialogue in the strict sense of the term is not possible without putting one’s own faith into parentheses. – Pope Benedict XVI