QUOTATION: Nationalism

The worrying resurgence of aggressive forms of nationalism and racism constitute serious threats to human dignity and undermine social coexistence, peace and harmony.

--Pope St. John Paul II

QUOTATION: Be Not Afraid!

Never tire of firmly speaking out in defense of life from its conception and do not be deterred from the commitment to defend the dignity of every human person with courageous determination. Christ is with you: be not afraid!

--Pope St. John Paul II

QUOTATION: Socialism

“[T]he fundamental error of socialism is anthropological in nature. Socialism considers the individual person simply as an element, a molecule within the social organism, so that the good of the individual is completely subordinated to the functioning of the socio-economic mechanism. Socialism likewise maintains that the good of the individual can be realized without reference to his free choice, to the unique and exclusive responsibility which he exercises in the face of good or evil. Man is thus reduced to a series of social relationships, and the concept of the person as the autonomous subject of moral decision disappears, the very subject whose decisions build the social order. From this mistaken conception of the person there arise both a distortion of law, which defines the sphere of the exercise of freedom, and an opposition to private property. A person who is deprived of something he can call ‘his own’, and of the possibility of earning a living through his own initiative, comes to depend on the social machine and on those who control it. This makes it much more difficult for him to recognize his dignity as a person, and hinders progress towards the building up of an authentic human community.

--Pope St. John Paul II, Centesimus Annus, 13

QUOTATION: Truth-Seeking Rests on Belief

There are in the life of a human being many more truths which are simply believed than truths which are acquired by way of personal verification. Who, for instance, could assess critically the countless scientific findings upon which modern life is based? Who could personally examine the flow of information which comes day after day from all parts of the world and which is generally accepted as true? Who in the end could forge anew the paths of experience and thought which have yielded the treasures of human wisdom and religion? This means that the human being—the one who seeks the truth—is also the one who lives by belief.

--Pope St. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio,  #27

QUOTATION: Truth

Hypotheses may fascinate, but they do not satisfy. Whether we admit it or not, there comes for everyone the moment when personal existence must be anchored to a truth recognized as final, a truth which confers a certitude no longer open to doubt.

--Pope St. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio,  #27

QUOTATION: Religion and Science

The collaboration between religion and modern science is to the advantage of both, without violating their respective autonomy in any way. Just as religion demands religious freedom, so science rightly claims freedom of research.

--Pope St. John Paul II

QUOTATION: The Gospel of Life

The Gospel of Life is not for believers alone: it is for everyone. The issue of life and its defense and promotion is not a concern of the Christian alone. Although faith provides special light and strength, this question arises in every human conscience which seeks the truth and which cares about the future of humanity. Life certainly has a sacred and religious value, but in no way is that value a concern only of believers. The value at stake is one which every human being can grasp by the light of reason; thus it necessarily concerns everyone.

--Pope St. John Paul II

QUOTATION: Blaming God

The feeling that God is silent or absent, whether voiced as an accusation or as a complaint, is an almost spontaneous reaction to the experience of pain and injustice. The very people who do not credit God with their joy hold Him responsible in detail for human suffering.

--Pope St. John Paul II, Master in the Faith, 1990

QUOTATION: Transcendence

It is essential, therefore, that the values chosen and pursued in one's life be true, because only true values can lead people to realize themselves fully, allowing them to be true to their nature. The truth of these values is to be found not by turning in on oneself but by opening oneself to apprehend that truth even at levels which transcend the person. This is an essential condition for us to become ourselves and to grow as mature, adult persons.

--Pope St. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio, 25

QUOTATION: Trials

We must be prepared to undergo great trials in the not-too-distant future; trials that will require us to be ready to give up even our lives, and a total gift of self to Christ and for Christ. Through your prayers and mine, it is possible to alleviate this tribulation, but it is no longer possible to avert it... How many times has the renewal of the Church been brought about in blood! It will not be different this time.

--Pope St. John Paul II

QUOTATION: God Will Triumph

Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death, do not have the final say.

--Pope St. John Paul II

QUOTATION: Prenatal Life is Sacred

When the Sacredness of life before birth is attacked, we will stand up and proclaim that no one ever has the authority to destroy unborn life.

--Pope St. John Paul II

QUOTATION: Chastity

In the Christian view, chastity by no means signifies rejection of human sexuality or lack of esteem for it: Rather it signifies spiritual energy capable of defending love from the perils of selfishness and aggressiveness, and able to advance it toward its full realization.

--Pope St. John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio 

QUOTATION: The Eucharist

Those who feed on Christ in the Eucharist need not wait until the hereafter to receive eternal life: they already possess it on earth, as the first-fruits of a future fullness which will embrace man in his totality.

--Pope St. John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 18

QUOTATION: Manifest Grave Sin = No Communion

The judgment of one's state of grace obviously belongs only to the person involved, since it is a question of examining one's conscience. However, in cases of outward conduct which is seriously, clearly and steadfastly contrary to the moral norm, the Church, in her pastoral concern for the good order of the community and out of respect for the sacrament, cannot fail to feel directly involved. The Code of Canon Law refers to this situation of a manifest lack of proper moral disposition when it states that those who “obstinately persist in manifest grave sin” are not to be admitted to Eucharistic communion.

--Pope St. John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 18

QUOTATION: Body and Soul

The body expresses the person. The relation between “us” and our flesh is never accidental or incidental. Our souls and our bodies are partners, never—as gender theory asserts—strangers or even enemies.

--Pope St. John Paul II

QUOTATION: The Greatest Deception

The greatest deception, and the deepest source of unhappiness, is the illusion of finding life by excluding God, of finding freedom by excluding moral truths and personal responsibility.

--St. John Paul II, Homily, World Youth Day, Toronto, July 28, 2002

QUOTATION: Unpopular Doctrine

When the true doctrine is unpopular, it is not right to seek easy popularity.

--Pope St. John Paul II

QUOTATION: Lifestyle

It is not wrong to want to live better; what is wrong is a style of life which is presumed to be better when it is directed toward having rather than being, and which wants to have more, not in order to be more but in order to spend life in enjoyment as an end in itself.

--Pope St. John Paul II

QUOTATION: Excluding God

The greatest deception, and the deepest source of unhappiness, is the illusion of finding life by excluding God, of finding freedom by excluding moral truths and personal responsibility.

--Pope St. John Paul II, World Youth Day Homily, July 28, 2002