Quotes from Pope Francis

Let's return to our first love, in order to receive the fire which Jesus has kindled in the world and to bring that fire to all people, to the very ends of the earth.

To follow Jesus means to share his merciful love for every human being.

The whole of salvation history is the story of God looking for us: he offers us love and welcomes us with tenderness.

Our infinite sadness can only be cured by an infinite love.

Christmas celebrations are often full of sound. It would be good for us to make room for silence, to hear the voice of Love.

Among our tasks as witnesses to the love of Christ is that of giving a voice to the cry of the poor.

The Christian family is missionary: it announces the love of God to the world.

We are all called to be friends with Jesus. Don't be afraid to love the Lord.

Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move towards what they think is good... Everyone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them. That would be enough to make the world a better place.

I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars. You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.

I see clearly that the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity.

It is true that going out on to the street implies the risk of accidents happening, as they would to any ordinary man or woman. But if the church stays wrapped up in itself, it will age. And if I had to choose between a wounded church that goes out on to the streets and a sick, withdrawn church, I would definitely choose the first one.

Wretched are those who are vindictive and spiteful.

This is important: to get to know people, listen, expand the circle of ideas. The world is crisscrossed by roads that come closer together and move apart, but the important thing is that they lead towards the Good.

The media only writes about the sinners and the scandals, he said, but that's normal, because 'a tree that falls makes more noise than a forest that grows.

Although the life of a person is in a land full of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good seed can grow. You have to trust God.

I'm overwhelmed by shame that the people who had the responsibility to take care of the tender ones violated that trust and caused them great pain.

Let us never forget that authentic power is service, which has its radiant culmination on the Cross.

It is important to have friends we can trust. But it is essential to trust the Lord, who never lets us down.

Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she bears witness to God's love. Be missionaries of God's tenderness!

Faith is professed with the lips and with the heart, through words & through love.

The Sacraments are the manifestation of the Father's tenderness and love towards each of us.

Let love simply bloom... and it is unstoppable.

Despite our sins, we can say with Peter: Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you.