Quotes of the Week October 10

“It is a disgrace.”

Pope Francis reacts to news of migrant fatalities on the shores of Lampadusa on October 3.

 

"Organisations of human traffickers, which attract potential migrants and refugees should be put under immediate control. Migrants have their illusion of finding the earthly paradise in Yemen, in Italy or in Europe, which is not true.
"In the long term we must not desist from the effort to support migrant countries at a political, economic and cultural level. We need to encourage the development of respect for human rights in these countries because migrants also aspire to this. In the short term one should immediately try to put under control human trafficking organisations, which are a real plague and are responsible for so many deaths"

Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti and Apostolic Administrator of Mogadishu, responds to the Lampadusa tragedy.

 

 “He seems somebody who lives out the teachings of Christ. Incredible humility, an incredible sense of empathy to the least of these, to the poor, someone who is first and foremost thinking about how to embrace people as opposed to push them away.“That spirit, that sense of love and unity, seems to manifest itself not just in what he says, but in what he does.

“For any religious leader, that's a quality I admire, and I would argue, for any leader period, that's a quality I admire.”

US President Barack Obama, commenting on Pope Francis’ recent interview on his vision for the Church.

 

"My Catholic education taught me the value of thinking for myself.”

Thriller writer Tom Clancy, who died on October 1, speaking of his Catholic upbringing during a radio interview in 1990.