Quotes from Blase J. Cupich

In the 40 years that I've been a priest and the 17 as a bishop, I have experienced people coming at things in a different way. That's the way adults are, that's the way the world is, and that's OK.

We don't need more divisive language or programs and policies that are going to tear the fabric of the nation apart.

When the state imposes the death penalty, it proclaims that taking one human life counterbalances the taking of another life. This assumption is profoundly mistaken.

We must band together to call for gun-control legislation. We must act in ways that promote the dignity and value of human life.

Society cannot escape what is essentially a moral question: When does human life deserve legal protection from the state? And society certainly cannot escape this dilemma by denying that it is fundamentally a moral issue, no matter what position one chooses.

Hope in the future is deeply rooted in our national psyche. It is part of the soul of our nation.

The existence of slavery cast the shadow of hypocrisy over the otherwise noble proclamation of the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in our Declaration of Independence.

The Catholic Church is an enormous footprint in Chicago, doing a lot of good. That aspiration is felt by a lot of people - that the church succeed - because it will be good for society.

I did my doctoral dissertation on the lectionary readings that we use at mass and how you have biblical texts that have been taken out of their original Bible context and put together for mass, and now they form a new text. Out of that new text, there is an interplay of new meaning.

We budget quite a bit of money every year in order to assist people who are migrating here, people who are trying to enter into our society and be a part of the American dream.

Radical individualism can be very sad.

Ultimately, it is only the witness who convinces people, not the teacher.

Realities are greater than ideas. Because sometimes ideas can separate us unnecessarily. So let's attend to the realities that we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. That's what I want to do.

Some of the greatest Christians I know are people who don't actually have a kind of faith system that they believe in. But, in their activity, the way they conduct themselves, there's a goodness there.

Once a bishop is appointed, in terms of governance, we are semi-autonomous. It's not like we are branch managers of a bank or something.

Christ receives people; because of that mercy, conversion happens.

Chicago is highly segregated, a fact that both causes and compounds the problems we face in bringing an end to violence.

I want to be a partner with business, labor, civic leaders, foundations, other churches so that we can work together... If I can talk to all of these people and have something in common, maybe I can get them to see that they also have something in common with each other when we come together.

Our schools must be places where all are respected and the values of tolerance and peacemaking are taught and nurtured.

The open and generous nature of the American people has the capacity to astonish and push boundaries. We crowdfund, sign petitions, dump buckets of ice on ourselves, and embrace new ways of relating to our environment.

The church can challenge society, but society also challenges the church. That's good. We should be humble enough to be able to accept that.

There should be reluctance to make a national policy so inflexible that it fails to take into account the country's diversity.

We are a people who have learned repeatedly throughout our history that economic distress can help us to appreciate that there are other ways to be rich that are not financial or even material.

We are an immigrant nation.