Explore Quotes by Pope Francis

Anyone who wants to be pope doesn't care much for themselves, God doesn't bless them. I didn't want to be pope.

The worship of the golden calf of old (cf. Ex 32:15-34) has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal.

In the Church, and in the journey of faith, women have had and still have a special role in opening doors to the Lord.

Young people are just as attracted to the truth as they are convenience and expediency.

The root of this possibility of doing good - that we all have - is in creation.

I am always wary of decisions made hastily. I am always wary of the first decision, that is, the first thing that comes to my mind if I have to make a decision. This is usually the wrong thing. I have to wait and assess, looking deep into myself, taking the necessary time.

In Europe first and now in America, elected men have taken it upon themselves to indebt their people to create an atmosphere of dependency. And why? For their own selfish need to increase their own personal power.

The Son of God became incarnate in the souls of men to instill the feeling of brotherhood. All are brothers and all children of God.

The confessional is not a torture chamber, but the place in which the Lord's mercy motivates us to do better.

If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?... No one should marginalize these people for this, they must be integrated into society.

I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.

Together with a culture of work, there must be a culture of leisure as gratification. To put it another way: people who work must take the time to relax, to be with their families, to enjoy themselves, read, listen to music, play a sport.

Vanity, showing off, is an attitude that reduces spirituality to a worldly thing, which is the worst sin that could be committed in the church.

Right now, we don't have a very good relation with creation.

A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.

We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity.

Among us, who is above must be in service of the others. This doesn't mean we have to wash each other's feet every day, but we must help one another.

From my point of view, God is the light that illuminates the darkness, even if it does not dissolve it, and a spark of divine light is within each of us.

Leaders of the Church have often been Narcissus, flattered and sickeningly excited by their courtiers. The court is the leprosy of the papacy.

Truth, according to the Christian faith, is God's love for us in Jesus Christ. Therefore, truth is a relationship.

Politics is the most important of the civil activities and has its own field of action, which is not that of religion.