Pope Francis just finished his first tour of Mexico. Coverage of his trip has focused on his visit to the border, his numerous slights to Donald Trump and various stunts and missteps along the way. In between, the Holy Roman Catholic Church leader spoke out against narcotraffickers, warned millennials not to get lost in technology and told prisoners that they could find redemption. Whether you think the Pope’s words are wisdom or just aphorism, here’s a roundup of the pontiff’s quotes from his visit to Mexico this week.
On Gangs, Technology & Corruption (Feb. 14 & 15):
“Narco traffickers will always have their hands stained with blood even if their pockets are full of money.”
“Technology makes close what is far away, but makes distant what should be close.”
“Be not afraid of transparency. The church does not need darkness to operate.”
“We put this in our heads: don’t discuss with the devil; only by the word of God can he be defeated.”
“Open your eyes to the injustices and to the heart of your bedridden brother.”
“Lent is a good time to recoup happiness and hope that makes us feel like the loved children of the father.”
“Where did we get habituated with a lifestyle that thinks riches, vanity and pride are the source and strength of life?”
On Giving Up, Climate Change & Prayer (Feb 15)
“We can’t make ourselves deaf in the face of one of the worst environmental crises.”
“The violence that exists in the human heart injured by sin also manifests itself in the simptoms of the sickness that we identify in the ground, in the water and in the air.”
“We would all do well to examine our consciouses and learn to forgive.”
“Resignation is devil’s favorite weapon.”
“Show me how you pray and I’ll discover the God that you live.”
On Prisons Feb. 17
“I always ask myself when I enter a prison ‘Why them and not me?’ And it is a mystery of divine mercy.”
“We have forgotten to concentrate on what should be our true preoccupation: the life of people, of families.”
“Reintegration doesn’t start here in these walls. It starts before. It starts outside, in the streets of the city.”
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