Pope Quotes

• It often happens that I wake up at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope.

  Pope John XXIII

  Funny, Humor, Night

  Quoted in Forbes, 14 May 1990

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• The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth.

  Pope Pius V

  Heaven, Earth, Harlots

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• Pope Gelasius in his ninth letter (chap. 26) to the bishops of Lucania condemned the evil practice which had been introduced of women serving the priest at the celebration of Mass. Since this abuse had spread to the Greeks, Innocent IV strictly forbade it in his letter to the bishop of Tusculum: 'Women should not dare to serve at the altar; they should be altogether refused this ministry.' We too have forbidden this practice in the same words.

  Pope Benedict XIV

  Powerful, Practice, Evil

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• Whereof it followeth Rome to be the seat of antichrist, and the pope to be very antichrist himself. I could prove the same by many other scriptures, old writers, and strong reasons.

  Thomas Cranmer

  Strong, Rome, Scripture

  Thomas Cranmer (1846). “Miscellaneous Writings and Letters of Thomas Cranmer”, p.63

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• God has set popes over kings and kingdoms.

  Pope Boniface VIII

  Kings, Kingdoms

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• I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favorable presumption that they do no wrong. If there is any presumption, it is the other way against holders of power...power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

  Lord Acton

  Kings, Power, Men

  Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 3 April 1887, in Louise Creighton 'Life and Letters of Mandell Creighton' (1904) vol. 1, ch. 13.

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• At the first meeting I had with the (Italian) bishops in May 2013, one of the three things I said was: with the Italian government you're on your own. Because the pope is for everybody and he can't insert himself in the specific internal politics of a country. This is not the role of the pope, right?

  Pope Francis

  Country, Italian, Government

  "Full text of Pope Francis' in-flight interview from Mexico to Rome". www.catholicnewsagency.com. February 18, 2016.

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• Every cleric must obey the Pope, even if he commands what is evil; for no one may judge the Pope.

  Pope Innocent III

  Judging, Evil, May

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• The Pope? How many divisions has he got?

  Joseph Stalin

  Atheism, Division, Positive Atheism

  Quoted in Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm (1948)

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• Pope Paul III was the greatest thief in the history of the church.

  Peter O'Toole

  Church, Thieves

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• Great thieves go Scott-free, as the Pope and his crew.

  Martin Luther

  Thieves, Crew

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• My dear pope, I will kiss your feet and acknowledge you as supreme bishop if you will worship my Christ and grant that through His death and resurrection, not through keeping your traditions, we have forgiveness of sins and life eternal.

  Martin Luther

  Kissing, Acknowledge You, Feet

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• The big bankers of the world, who practise the terrorism of money, are more powerful than kings and field marshals, even more than the Pope of Rome himself. They never dirty their hands. They kill no-one: they limit themselves to applauding the show.

  Eduardo Galeano

  Kings, Powerful, Dirty

  "Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor". Book by Paul Farmer, p. 10, 2005.

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• A Roman Catholic worships a god who speaks through the Pope, while a Baptist worships a god who does not. They cannot be worshipping the same god.

  Judith Hayes

  Fear, Catholic, Atheism

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• I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.

  George Carlin

  Funny, Witty, Atheist

  George Carlin (2007). “The Best of Brain Droppings”, p.52, Peter Pauper Press, Inc.

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• The Pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but the Pope has the duty, in Christ's name, to remind the rich to help the poor, to respect them, to promote them.

  Pope Francis

  Names, Helping, Rich

  Pope Francis, The Word Among Us (2013). “Pope Francis Speaks to Our Hearts: Words of Challenge and Hope”, p.75, The Word Among Us Press

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• I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the great pope, Self.

  Martin Luther

  Integrity, Heart, Self

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• The new Pope knows that his task is to make the light of Christ shine before men and women of world - not his own light, but that of Christ.

  Pope Benedict XVI

  Men, Light, Shining

  "Benedict XVI calls for unification of Christians". www.cnn.com. April 21, 2005.

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• After the devil himself, there is no worse folk than the pope and his followers.

  Martin Luther

  Devil, Followers, Folks

  "Luther's Works, Volume 41:Church and Ministry III" by Helmut T. Lehman, edited by Eric W. Gritsch, Augsburg Fortress Press, (p. 279), 1966.

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• Ambition begat simony; simony begat the pope and his brethren, about the time of the Babylonish captivity

  Martin Luther

  Ambition, Captivity, Brethren

  Martin Luther, Alexander Chalmers (1857). “The Table Talk of Martin Luther”, p.220

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• It is necessary to salvation that all Christians be subject to the pope.

  Pope Boniface VIII

  Christian, Salvation, Subjects

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• Even if [the Pope an incarnate devil], we ought not to raise up our heads against him, but calmly lie down to rest on his bosom... He who rebels against our Father is condemned to death, for that which we do to him we do to Christ: we honor Christ if we honor the Pope; we dishonor Christ if we dishonor the Pope.

  St. Catherine of Siena

  Father, Lying, Honor

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• I think anarchy is natural to the Catholic. The Church is pretty anarchistic, you know. Who pays attention to the Pope or the Cardinals?

  Dorothy Day

  Thinking, Catholic, Church

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• Each religion has got their own way of making you feel like a victim. The Christians say "you are a sinner", and you better just zip up your trousers and give the money to the pope and we'll give you a room up in the hotel in the sky.

  Timothy Leary

  Christian, Sky, Giving

  "Timothy Leary's Last Trip". Documentary, 1997.

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• The perpetrators of the Inquisition - the torturers, informers, and those who commanded their actions - were ecclesiastics of one rank or another. They were men of God - popes, bishops, friars, and priests.

  Sam Harris

  Men, Religion, Bishops

  Sam Harris (2005). “The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason”, p.84, W. W. Norton & Company

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