Vatican Quotes

Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do. - Vatican II

Choosing the right bishops is something that's extremely important for the Vatican. It's not really just giving a blessing to a candidate chosen at the local level. - Benoit Vermander

By appointing their own bishops hastily and illegally, they [the Patriotic Catholic Association] tried to impose their own selection on the Vatican. This shows disregard for the spirit of the negotiation and disrupts mutual trust. - Cardinal Zen

But a visit of this sort requires a radical change in relations between the Russian Orthodox church and the Vatican. - Sergei Yastrzhembsky

Before Vatican II, in theology, as in other areas, the discipline was fixed. After the council there has been a revolution - a chaotic revolution - with free discussion on everything. There is now no common theology or philosophy as there was before. - Godfried Danneels

Arafat is interested in developing a relationship with all the leaders of the world in order to maintain his legitimacy, his role in establishing a Palestinian state. And you cannot ignore the weight and value of the Vatican -- especially the pope. - Mahdi Abdel Hadi

All the speakers have some connection to the Vatican and have different insights on a common theme. - Kathleen Hohl

Above and beyond giving a mea culpa, John Paul II will attempt to frame what the church means by a mea culpa. His belief that the church strengthens itself through a frank acknowledgment of past sins is a remarkable thing. But the Vatican is also being careful to make clear that this isn't simply a spectacular act of self-flagellation before hostile outsiders; it's about the church's need to express regret and ask for God's pardon rather than to satisfy outsiders. - David Van Biema

A peaceful man does more good than a learned one. - Vatican II