10 Quotes from Pope Francis

on Leadership, Politics, and

Religion

God calls, and that’s what we see in the vocation of the great leaders. In our tradition, a mission always starts with a calling. […] During the formation process, one must purify the right intention, because nobody, not even those who discover themselves called, responds with complete integrity; the response is a mixture because we are all sinners. Pope Francis in On Heaven and Earth, p. 28

…he that wants to be a leader of the people of God has to give God His space; therefore to shrink, to recede into oneself with doubt, with the interior experiences of darkness, of not knowing what to do, all of that ultimately is very purifying. — On Heaven and Earth, p. 32

We are all Political animals, with a capital P. We are all called to constructive political activity among our people. The preaching of human and religious values has a political consequence. Whether we like it or not, it is there. — On Heaven and Earth, p. 136

Semila Luz

The problem of the press, truthfully, is that sometimes they reduce what one says to whatever is opportune. Today, from two or three facts, the media spins something different: they misinform. What is said from the pulpit refers to Politics with a capital P, to the Politics of values; but the press frequently takes it out of context and takes advantage of it for the benefit of lowercase politics. — On Heaven and Earth, p. 137

Luca Zennaro / AP

The religious minister has the obligation to defend values; what happens is that the political world can become overly scrupulous: it listens to a pastor and they say that he is preaching against so and so. We do not preach against anyone; we refer to the value that is in danger and that must be safeguarded. — On Heaven and Earth, p. 143

Power is something that God gave to humanity… I would question “power,” which at times is used to define religion. If one thinks that power is to impose my way, to push everyone in my line and to make them go on that path, I believe that it is wrong. Religion must not be like that. — On Heaven and Earth, p. 147

Religion has to have a healthy power, insofar as it serves the human dimensions for the encounter with God and the fulfillment of the person. There has to be a power that proposes: I help. — On Heaven and Earth, p. 147

The Christian concept of “human being” has little to do with the entrenched postmodern view of the individual as a uniquely social agent. Freedom is not an end in itself, a black hole unconstrained by external forces, but it is rather that from which arises a most robust way of life of the individual and the entirety of mankind. —Pray for Me, p. 197

We cannot announce anything other than life, and from the beginning to the end. We must all care for life, cherish life, tenderness, warmth. That is what we are called to today, and that’s beautiful. —Pray for Me, p. 200

Every economic, political, social, or religious project involves the inclusion or exclusion of the wounded lying on the side of the road. Each day, each of us faces the choice of being a good Samaritan or an indifferent bystander. —Homily on the Good Samaritan, May 2003

From the founder and editor of Inside the Vatican magazine comes this enlightening introduction to the life and spiritual teachings of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, the first Pope of the Americas. Read a Sample Chapter here.

From the man who became Pope Francis, Jorge Mario

Bergoglio shares his thoughts on religion, reason, and the

challenges the world faces in the 21st century with Abraham

Skorka, a rabbi and biophysicist.

Read a Sample Chapter here.

Read more from Pope Francis:

The encyclical letter Lumen Fidei is the great monument of the Year of Faith declared by Pope

Benedict XVI and brought to completion by Pope Francis. It is a capstone of the year, but at the same

time a milestone of a long road, a road we have only begun to travel: the road of the New Evangelization.”

–from the Foreword by Scott Hahn Read a Sample Chapter here. www.ImageCatholicBooks.com