Top 500 Pope Francis Quotes (2025 Update)
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151. “Dear young people, put your talents at the service of the Gospel, with creativity and boundless charity.”

— Pope Francis

152. “We cannot trust in our own strength, but only in Jesus and in his mercy.”

— Pope Francis

153. “The secret of Christian living is love. Only love fills the empty spaces caused by evil.”

— Pope Francis

154. “To be friends with God means to pray with simplicity, like children talking to their parents.”

— Pope Francis

155. “The border between good and evil passes not outside of us but within us.”

— Pope Francis

156. “It is not enough to say we are Christians. We must live the faith, not only with our words, but with our actions.”

— Pope Francis

157. “The cross of Christ, embraced with love, never brings sadness with it, but joy, the joy of being saved and of doing a little of what he did on the day of his death.”

— Pope Francis

158. “Holy Week is a good occasion to go to confession and to take up the right path again.”

— Pope Francis

159. “The process of healing also needs to include the pursuit of truth, not for the sake of opening old wounds, but rather as a necessary means of promoting justice, healing and unity.”

— Pope Francis

160. “Take good care of creation. St. Francis wanted that. People occasionally forgive, but nature never does. If we don’t take care of the environment, there’s no way of getting around it.”

— Pope Francis

161. “Lord, help us to live the virtue of generosity, to love without limits.”

— Pope Francis

162. “Gossip can also kill, because it kills the reputation of the person! It is so terrible to gossip! At first it may seem like a nice thing, even amusing, like enjoying a candy. But in the end, it fills the heart with bitterness, and even poisons us.”

— Pope Francis

163. “I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars. You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.”

— Pope Francis

164. “To understand one another, and to grow in charity and truth, we need to pause, to accept and listen to one another. In this way we already begin to experience unity. Unity grows along the way, it never stands still. Unity happens when we walk together.”

— Pope Francis

165. “The Christian who does not feel that the Virgin Mary is his or her mother is an orphan.”

— Pope Francis

166. “Fraternal love is the nearest testimony that we can give that Jesus is alive among us.”

— Pope Francis

167. “Jesus is God but he humbled himself to walk with us. He is our friend, our brother.”

— Pope Francis

168. “Please waste time just playing with your kids!”

— Pope Francis

169. “The goods of the earth are meant for everyone.”

— Pope Francis

170. “Go, do not be afraid and serve.”

— Pope Francis

171. “All men and women of good will are bound by the task of pursuing peace.”

— Pope Francis

172. “If money and material things become the center of our lives, they seize us and make us slaves.”

— Pope Francis

173. “Trade unions have been an essential force for social change, without which a semblance of a decent and humane society is impossible under capitalism.”

— Pope Francis

174. “To love God and neighbor is not something abstract, but profoundly concrete: it means seeing in every person and face of the Lord to be served, to serve him concretely. And you are, dear brothers and sisters, in the face of Jesus.”

— Pope Francis

175. “Say no to an ephemeral, superficial and throwaway culture, a culture that assumes that you are incapable of taking on responsibility and facing the great challenges of life!”

— Pope Francis

176. “The parish is the presence of the Church in any given territory, an environment for hearing God’s word, for growth in Christian life, for dialogue, proclamation, charitable outreach, worship and celebration.”

— Pope Francis

177. “An authentic faith-which is never comfortable or completely personal-always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better than we found it.”

— Pope Francis

178. “Just as we need the courage to be happy, we also need the courage to live simply.”

— Pope Francis

179. “My people are poor and I am one of them.”

— Pope Francis

180. “Christmas is joy, religious joy, an inner joy of light and peace.”

— Pope Francis

181. “Grace is not part of consciousness; it is the amount of light in our souls, not knowledge nor reason.”

— Pope Francis

182. “Where there is truth, there is also light, but don’t confuse light with the flash.”

— Pope Francis

183. “Whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms.”

— Pope Francis

184. “To live charitably means not looking out for our own interests, but carrying the burdens of the weakest and poorest among us.”

— Pope Francis

185. “Let’s return to our first love, in order to receive the fire which Jesus has kindled in the world and to bring that fire to all people, to the very ends of the earth.”

— Pope Francis

186. “I believe in the old warrior’s credo that “to the victor go the spoils.””

— Pope Francis

187. “Forgiveness, dialogue, reconciliation – these are the words of peace, in beloved Syria, in the Middle East, in all the world.”

— Pope Francis

188. “How does St. Joseph exercise his role as protector? Discreetly, humbly and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand.”

— Pope Francis

189. “The joy of the Gospel is for all people: no one can be excluded.”

— Pope Francis

190. “Your sins are great? Just tell the Lord: Forgive me, help me to get up again, change my heart!”

— Pope Francis

191. “If we want security, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us.”

— Pope Francis

192. “Gay adoption is discrimination against children.”

— Pope Francis

193. “The fruits of this profound union with Jesus are marvelous: our whole being is transformed by the grace of the Holy Spirit: soul, intelligence, will, affections and even the body, because we are united in body and spirit.”

— Pope Francis

194. “I am always wary of decisions made hastily. I am always wary of the first decision, that is, the first thing that comes to my mind if I have to make a decision. This is usually the wrong thing. I have to wait and assess, looking deep into myself, taking the necessary time.”

— Pope Francis

195. “The challenge of life is to learn how to love.”

— Pope Francis

196. “The whole of salvation history is the story of God looking for us: he offers us love and welcomes us with tenderness.”

— Pope Francis

197. “No one is saved alone, as an isolated individual, but God attracts us looking at the complex web of relationships that take place in the human community. God enters into this dynamic, this participation in the web of human relationships.”

— Pope Francis

198. “God never gives someone a gift they are not capable of receiving. If he gives us the gift of Christmas, it is because we all have the ability to understand and receive it.”

— Pope Francis

199. “The Sacraments are Jesus Christ’s presence in us. So it is important for us to go to Confession and receive Holy Communion.”

— Pope Francis

200. “Life is a precious gift, but we realize this only when we give it to others.”

— Pope Francis