Quotes from Pope Benedict XVI

Our first experience of God is so important, we either experience Him as the police guard that wants to punish or as Creative Love that awaits.

The horizon of love is truly boundless: it is the whole world!

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.

I wrote the text of the resignation. I cannot say with precision when, but at the most two weeks before. I wrote it in Latin because something so important you do in Latin. Furthermore, Latin is a language in which I know well how to write in a more appropriate way.

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.

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.

If a Pope clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically, and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right and, under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign.

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.

It is absolutely important to make accessible the Gospel for all people and also understandable for Jewish people.

Standards of conduct appropriate to civil society or the workings of a democracy cannot be purely and simply applied to the Church.

I too hope in this short reign to be a man of peace.

Choose the path of dialogue rather than the path of unilateral decisions.

Germany has an established and well-furnished Catholicism, often with employed Catholics who handle the church like a labor union. For them, the church is simply the employer.

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.