On this Feast in which we honor the successor of Saint Peter, I have an interactive game for you. I will quote a Pope (past or present) and you take a guess who said it.
(The answers are at the end of the blog, but don’t cheat! St. Peter is watching!)
1) “The new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life: who will proclaim, celebrate and serve the gospel of life in every situation. I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to end the death penalty which is both cruel and unnecessary.”
2) “I wish to restate as firmly as I can that abortion is a grave sin, since it puts an end to an innocent life.”
3) “Environmental pollution is making particularly unsustainable the lives of the poor of the world. In dialogue with Christians of various confessions, we must pledge ourselves to take care of creation and to share its resources in solidarity.”
4) “The Earth is indeed a precious gift of the Creator who, in designing its intrinsic order, has given us bearings that guide us as stewards of his creation. Precisely from within this framework, the Church considers matters concerning the environment and its protection intimately linked to the theme of integral human development."
5) “All life has inestimable value even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.”
6) “The environment is God's gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole.”
7) “Today, there is a rising awareness that the adoption of measures to protect the environment implies a real and necessary solidarity among nations. It is becoming more apparent that an effective solution to the problems raised by the risk of atomic and atmospheric pollution and the deterioration of the general conditions of nature and human life can be provided only on the world level. This in turn entails a recognition of the increasing interdependence which characterizes our age. Indeed, it is increasingly evident that development policies demand a genuine international cooperation, carried out in accord with decisions made jointly and within the context of a universal vision, one which considers the good of the human family in both the present generation and in those to come.”
Today we pray for our beloved Holy Father, Pope Francis, Vicar of Christ and Shepherd of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Answers: 1) Pope Saint John Paul II, 1999 | 2) Pope Francis, 2016 | 3) Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, 2006 | 4) Pope Benedict, 2009 | 5) Pope Francis, 2015 | 6) Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, 2009 | 7) Saint Pope John Paul II, 1989
Mother Clare, CFR