Let us hasten to pursue paths of peace and fraternity. Let us rejoice at the concrete signs of hope that reach us from so many countries, beginning with those that offer assistance and welcome to all fleeing from war and poverty.
(«Urbi et Orbi» Message, 9 April 2023)
And this is the first thing I want to recommend to you: tenderness. How does God do things? With three attitudes: proximity, mercy and tenderness. This is how God is: close, merciful and tender. Beware: I am not talking about sentimentalism, no. I am talking about a feature of God’s love, which is needed today more than ever. At times, a caress given from the heart does greater good than a few coins.
(Address to Members the Circle of Saint Peter, 20 February 2023)
Let us not tire of welcoming them with generosity as is being done, not only now during the emergency, but also in the weeks and months to come.
(Angelus, 20 March 2022)
A small amount, if given with love, never ends, but becomes a source of life and happiness. Such was the case with the jar of meal and jug of oil of the widow of Zarephath, who offered a cake of bread to the prophet Elijah (cf. 1 Kings 17:7-16); it was also the case with the loaves blessed, broken and given by Jesus to the disciples to distribute to the crowd (cf. Mk 6:30-44). Such is the case too with our almsgiving, whether small or large, when offered with joy and simplicity.
(Message for Lent 2021)
One must know how to look at human wounds with the heart in order to ‘take to heart’ the life of others. In this way, we no longer see just a stranger in need of help but, first and foremost, a brother, a brother begging for love. And only when we take someone to heart can we respond to this expectation. It is the experience of mercy: miseri-cor-dare, to give one’s heart to the suffering
(Address to Members the Circle of Saint Peter, 25 September 2020)
One cannot give a usual response to an exceptional situation; a new, different reaction is required. To do this requires a heart that can 'see' the wounds of society and creative hands in industrious charity. Heart that sees and hands that do. These two elements are important so that a charitable action can always be fruitful.
(Address to Members the Circle of Saint Peter, 25 September 2020)
It is not the time of your judgement, but of our judgement: a time to choose what matters and what passes away, a time to separate what is necessary from what is not. It is a time to get our lives back on track with regard to you, Lord, and to others.
(Extraordinary moment of prayer, 27 March 2020)
When I am merciful, I am a true child of the Father, because the Father is merciful.
(Tweet @Pontifex, 13 September 2018)
If we allow ourselves to be involved in this loving and trusting relationship with Jesus, we will be able to perform good works that exude the fragrance of the Gospel for the good and needs of our brothers.
(Angelus, 5 August 2018)
Faced with the cry of hunger of many brothers and sisters in every part of the world, we cannot be detached and calm spectators. The proclamation of Christ, Bread of eternal life, requires a generous commitment of solidarity toward the poor, the weak, the least ones, the defenseless.
(Angelus, 29 July 2018)
The Circle of St. Peter for many years is a beautiful reality of assistance and help to the poor: a shoot of the rich and fruitful "vine" of charity and an expression of the ecclesial "vineyard" of Rome. Strive to be the face of a Church that pushes itself to the frontiers, never standing still but walking to meet the brothers and sisters who are hungering and thirsting to be welcomed, yearning for sharing, closeness and solidarity. I urge you to continue on this path! In your activity, do not be ashamed of the wounded flesh of the brother", but to discover the “face of Christ” in every suffering and needy person but in every suffering and needy person know how to see the face of Christ. Be courageous missionaries of Christian charity and do not tire of bearing witness to the mercy and goodness of God, becoming instruments of consolation for many fragile and desperate people.
(Audience to the Members of the Circolo San Pietro, 12 May 2018)
There cannot be a true communion and a commitment to the common good and social justice without fraternity and sharing.
(Regina Coeli, 2 April 2018)
Without the work that you do, the work of the Church would not go well, one would not be able to do so much work for the preaching of the Gospel, to help so many people, the sick, schools, so many things. You are a part of this ‘chain’ that carries forward the work of the Church.
(Greetings to the employees of the Holy See and of Vatican City State, 21 December 2017)
The hope that we have been given never divides us from others. Instead it is an extraordinary gift of which we are called to make ourselves ‘channels’, with humility and simplicity, for everyone. So our boastfulness is because we have as Father a God who opens his house to all human beings, beginning with the least and the most distant, so that as his children we may learn to console and support one another.
(General Audience, 15 February 2017)
All together we are a great supportive force for those who have lost their homeland, family, work and dignity.
(General Audience, 26 October 2016)
We exist in relationship with our brothers and sisters, towards whom we have a responsibility and with whom we act in solidarity.
(Message for the Celebration of the XLIX World Day of Peace, 1 January 2016)
A life of remembrance needs others. It demands exchange, encounter and a genuine solidarity capable of entering into the mindset of taking, blessing and giving. It demands the logic of love.
(Mass in the square of Christ the Redeemer in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, 9 July 2015)
The common good is greater than the sum of the individual interests; it is a transition from what is "best for me" to what "is best for everyone".
(Meeting with the Civil Authorities in the Cathedral of La Paz, Bolivia, 8 July 2015)
Solidarity is taking responsibility for the problem of the other.
(Discourse to young people, Asunción, Paraguay, 12 July 2015)
When there is a lack of solidarity in a country, the effects are felt by all.
(2nd International Conference on Nutrition, 20 November 2014)
The Church is us all, us! All baptized persons are the Church, Jesus’ Church. Made up of: all those who follow the Lord Jesus and who, in his name, come close to the least and the suffering, seeking to offer a little relief, comfort and peace.
(General Audience, 29 October 2014)
Let us pray through the intercession of Mary, the model of humble and joyful evangelization, that the Church may become a welcoming home, a mother for all peoples and the source of rebirth for our world.
(Message for the World Mission Day 2014, 8 June 2014)
It is the last day of the year. What shall we do, how shall we act in the coming year in order to make our City a little better? In the new year, Rome will have an even more beautiful face if it is richer in humanity, more hospitable and welcoming; if we are all considerate and generous to those in difficulty.
(Homily during the Celebration of the First Vespers, Vatican Basilica, 31 December 2013)
Your heart, when you meet those most in need, will begin to grow, grow, grow! Because the meeting multiplies our capacity to love. The encounter with the other enlarges the heart.
(Video message for the Feast of Saint Cajetan in Argentina, 7 August 2013)
The true treasure is the love of God shared with our brethren. That love which comes from God and enables us to share it with one another and to help each other.
(Angelus, 4 August 2013)
Only when we are able to share do we become truly rich; everything that is shared is multiplied! Think of the multiplication of the loaves by Jesus! The measure of the greatness of a society is found in the way it treats those most in need, those who have nothing apart from their poverty!
(Visit to the Community of Varginha [Manguinhos], Rio de Janeiro, 25 July 2013)
In our Christian life too, dear brothers and sisters, may prayer and action always be deeply united. A prayer that does not lead you to practical action for your brother — the poor, the sick, those in need of help, a brother in difficulty — is a sterile and incomplete prayer.
(Angelus, 21 July 2013)
How marvellous it would be if, at the end of the day, each of us could say: today I have performed an act of charity towards others!
(Tweet @Pontifex, 29 April 2013)