“To give Christ means to give love, to bear witness to the charity that is ready for everything. I am counting on you so that in the countries where you live, everyone may know that the Church is always ready for everything out of love, that she is always on the side of the last, the poor, and that she will always defend the sacrosanct right to believe in God, to believe that this life is not at the mercy of the powers of this world, but rather is traversed by a mysterious meaning. Only love is worthy of faith, in the face of the suffering of the innocent, the crucified of today, whom many of you know personally, as you serve peoples who are victims of war, violence, and injustice, or even of the false well-being that deludes and disappoints.”
“The fruitfulness of the Church is the same fruitfulness as Mary’s; it is realized in the lives of her members to the extent that they relive, “in miniature,” what the Mother lived, namely, they love according to the love of Jesus. All the fruitfulness of the Church and of the Holy See depends on the Cross of Christ.”
“The Spirit opens borders, first of all, in our hearts. He is the Gift that opens our lives to love. His presence breaks down our hardness of heart, our narrowness of mind, our selfishness, the fears that enchain us and the narcissism that makes us think only of ourselves.”
“He convinces us, as we just heard in Jesus’ words, that only by abiding in love, will we receive the strength to remain faithful to his word and to let it transform us.“
“The Spirit breaks down barriers and tears down the walls of indifference and hatred because he “teaches us all things” and “reminds us of Jesus’ words” (cf. Jn 14:26). He teaches us, reminds us, and writes in our hearts before all else the commandment of love that the Lord has made the center and summit of everything. Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for “security” zones separating us from our neighbors, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms.”
“Let us invoke the Spirit of love and peace, that he may open borders, break down walls, dispel hatred and help us to live as children of our one Father who is in heaven.“
“There is always the possibility to find meaning, because God loves our life.“
“Faith is primarily a response to God’s love, and the greatest mistake we can make as Christians is, in the words of Saint Augustine, “to claim that Christ’s grace consists in his example and not in the gift of his person” (Contra Iulianum opus imperfectum, II, 146). How often, even in the not too distant past, have we forgotten this truth and presented Christian life mostly as a set of rules to be kept, replacing the marvelous experience of encountering Jesus – God who gives himself to us – with a moralistic, burdensome and unappealing religion that, in some ways, is impossible to live in concrete daily life.”
“What great need there is to promote an encounter with God, whose tender love values and loves the story of every person!“
“Christ prays that we may ‘all be one’ (v. 21). This is the greatest good that we can desire, for this universal union brings about among his creatures the eternal communion of love that is God himself: the Father who gives life, the Son who receives it and the Spirit who shares it.
The Lord does not want us, in this unity, to be a nameless and faceless crowd. He wants us to be one: “As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us” (v. 21). The unity for which Jesus prays is thus a communion grounded in the same love with which God loves, which brings life and salvation into the world. As such, it is firstly a gift that Jesus comes to bring. From his human heart, the Son of God prays to the Father in these words: “I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (v. 23).
Let us listen with amazement to these words. Jesus is telling us that God loves us as he loves himself. The Father does not love us any less than he loves his only-begotten Son. In other words, with an infinite love. God does not love less, because he loves first, from the very beginning! Christ himself bears witness to this when he says to the Father: “You loved me before the foundation of the world” (v. 24). And so it is: in his mercy, God has always desired to draw all people to himself. It is his life, bestowed upon us in Christ, that makes us one, uniting us with one another.
That human kindness is sometimes betrayed. As for example, whenever freedom is invoked not to give life, but to take it away, not to help, but to hurt. Yet even in the face of the evil that opposes and takes life, Jesus continues to pray to the Father for us. His prayer acts as a balm for our wounds; it speaks to us of forgiveness and reconciliation. That prayer makes fully meaningful our experience of love for one another as parents, grandparents, sons and daughters. That is what we want to proclaim to the world: we are here in order to be “one” as the Lord wants us to be “one,” in our families and in those places where we live, work and study. Different, yet one; many, yet one; always, in every situation and at every stage of life.
Dear friends, if we love one another in this way, grounded in Christ, who is “the Alpha and the Omega,” “the beginning and the end” (cf. Rev 22:13), we will be a sign of peace for everyone, in society and the world. Let us not forget: families are the cradle of the future of humanity.”
“With a heart filled with gratitude and hope, I would remind all married couples that marriage is not an ideal but the measure of true love between a man and a woman: a love that is total, faithful and fruitful (cf. SAINT PAUL VI, Humanae Vitae, 9). This love makes you one flesh and enables you, in the image of God, to bestow the gift of life.“
“In the family, faith is handed on together with life, generation after generation. It is shared like food at the family table and like the love in our hearts. In this way, families become privileged places in which to encounter Jesus, who loves us and desires our good, always.”
“Fraternity needs to be recovered, loved, experienced, proclaimed and witnessed, in the confident hope that it is indeed possible, thanks to the love of God “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5).”
“Jesus freed the disciples from their anxiety, telling them: “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid” (v. 27). For if we remain in his love, he comes to dwell in us and our life will become a temple of God. His love enlightens us, influences the way we think and act, spreads outwards to others and embraces every situation in our lives.“
“Dear friends, on the basis of that promise, let us walk in the joy born of faith, in order to become a holy temple of the Lord. Let us resolve to bring his love everywhere, never forgetting that each of our sisters and brothers is a dwelling place of God and that his presence is manifested above all in the little ones, in the poor and the suffering, who ask us to be thoughtful and compassionate Christians.“
“If, then, we must all cooperate in the great cause of unity and love, let us seek to do so first of all with our behavior in everyday situations, starting also from the work environment. Each person can be a builder of unity with his attitudes towards colleagues, overcoming inevitable misunderstandings with patience, with humility, putting himself in the in the shoes of others, avoiding prejudices, and also with a good dose of humor, as Pope Francis taught us.“
“Our world, wounded by war, violence and injustice, needs to hear the Gospel message of God’s love and to experience the reconciling power of Christ’s grace. In this sense, the Church herself, in all her members, is increasingly called to be “a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word … and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity” (Homily, Mass for the Beginning of the Pontificate, 18 May 2025).”
“We are used to calculating things – and at times it is necessary – but this does not apply in love! The way in which this “wasteful” sower throws the seed is an image of the way God loves us. Indeed, it is true that the destiny of the seed depends also on the way in which the earth welcomes it and the situation in which it finds itself, but first and foremost in this parable Jesus tells us that God throws the seed of his Word on all kinds of soil, that is, in any situation of ours: at times we are more superficial and distracted, at times we let ourselves get carried away by enthusiasm, sometimes we are burdened by life’s worries, but there are also times when we are willing and welcoming. God is confident and hopes that sooner or later the seed will blossom. This is how he loves us: he does not wait for us to become the best soil, but he always generously gives us his word. Perhaps by seeing that he trusts us, the desire to be better soil will be kindled in us. This is hope, founded on the rock of God’s generosity and mercy.”
“Salvation does not come about by magic, but by a mysterious interplay of grace and faith, of God’s prevenient love and of our trusting and free acceptance (cf. 2 Tim 1:12).”
“Let us compete in showing the love that, following his encounter with Christ, drove the former persecutor to become “all things to all people” (cf. 1 Cor 9:19-23), even to the point of martyrdom. In this way, for us as for Paul, the weakness of the flesh will show the power of faith in God that brings justification (cf. Rom 5:1-5).”
“I have been chosen without any merit and, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother who wants to become a servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, which wants us all united in one family.“
“Love and unity: these are the two dimensions of the mission entrusted to Peter by Jesus.“
“How can Peter carry out this task? The Gospel tells us that it is possible only because it has experienced in its life the infinite and unconditional love of God, even in the hour of failure and denial. For this reason, when it is Jesus who addresses Peter, the Gospel uses the Greek agapao verb, which refers to the love that God has for us, to his offering himself without reservation and without calculations, different from that used for the response of Peter, which instead describes the love of friendship, which we exchange between us.”
“When Jesus asks Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” (Jn 21:16), therefore, refers to the love of the Father. It is as if Jesus were to say to him: only if you have known and experienced this love of God, which never fails, you can feed my lambs; only in the love of God the Father can you love your brothers with a “more’s”, that is, offering your life for your brothers.“
“Peter, therefore, is entrusted with the task of “loving more” and giving his life for the flock. Peter’s ministry is marked precisely by this oblative love, because the Church of Rome presides over in charity and its true authority is the charity of Christ. It is never a question of capturing others with oppression, with religious propaganda or by the means of power, but it is always and only a question of loving as Jesus did.”
“He – the Apostle Peter himself affirms – “is the stone that has been discarded by you, builders, and that has become the cornerstone” (Acts 4:11). And if the stone is Christ, Peter must shepherd the flock without ever yielding to the temptation of being a solitary leader or a leader placed above the others, becoming the master of the people entrusted to him (cf. 1 Pet 5:3); on the contrary, he is required to serve the faith of his brothers, walking together with them: all, in fact, are made “living stones” (1 Pet 2:5), called with our Baptism to build in the Spirit. As St. Augustine says: “The Church consists of all who are in agreement with their brothers and who love their neighbors” (Speech 359:9).”
“In our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, fear of the different, an economic paradigm that exploits the resources of the Earth and marginalizes the poorest. And we want to be, within this paste, a small leaven of unity, of communion, of fraternity. We want to say to the world, with humility and joy: look to Christ! Get closer to Him! Accept his Word that enlightens and consoles! Listen to his proposal of love to become his only family: in the one Christ we are one. And this is the way to work together, among us but also with the sister Christian Churches, with those who walk other religious paths, with those who cultivate the restlessness of the search for God, with all women and men of good will, to build a new world in which peace reigns.”
“This is the missionary spirit that must animate us, without closing us in our small group or feeling superior to the world; we are called to offer to all the love of God, so that unity is realized that does not cancel differences, but values the personal history of each and the social and religious culture of every people.“
“Brothers, sisters, this is the hour of love! The charity of God that makes us brothers and sisters among us is the heart of the Gospel and, with my predecessor Leo XIII, today we can ask ourselves: if this criterion “prevalied in the world, would not all disagreement immediately cease and would not peace return?” (Lett. Enc. Rerum Novarum, 21).”
“With the light and strength of the Holy Spirit, we build a Church founded on the love of God and a sign of unity, a missionary Church, which opens the arms to the world, which proclaims the Word, which allows itself to be disturbed by history, and which becomes a leaven of concord for humanity.“
“Together, as the only people, as all brothers, we walk to meet God and love one another among ourselves.“
“That same Easter faith drew us into the spirit of the Conclave, during which you worked long and tiring days. Yet, even on this occasion, you managed to recount the beauty of Christ’s love that unites and makes us one people, guided by the Good Shepherd.“
“One of the most wonderful expressions of the love of God is the love that is poured out by mothers, especially to their children and grandchildren.“
“Peace be with you! It is the peace of the risen Christ. A peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering. A peace that comes from God, the God who loves us all, unconditionally.
“God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail! All of us are in God’s hands. So, let us move forward, without fear, together, hand in hand with God and with one another other! We are followers of Christ. Christ goes before us. The world needs his light. Humanity needs him as the bridge that can lead us to God and his love. Help us, one and all, to build bridges through dialogue and encounter, joining together as one people, always at peace.”
“Together, we must look for ways to be a missionary Church, a Church that builds bridges and encourages dialogue, a Church ever open to welcoming, like this Square with its open arms, all those who are in need of our charity, our presence, our readiness to dialogue and our love.”