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Christian life finds its deepest meaning in building friendship with God. - Christopher Cardinal Schönborn
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Short quotes of Cardinal Schönborn (in progress)
"Every day friendship is new, this amazing friendship that Jesus offers us; there is nothing more firm, solid, and sure than this always-new surprise of His friendship."
"Throughout history the church has defended the truths of faith given by Jesus Christ. But in the modern era, the Catholic Church is in the odd position of standing in firm defense of reason as well."
"In a very poor plantation village in Sri Lanka, I was received with unimaginable honors. For days the first visit of a cardinal had been prepared: garlands, the long road neatly and painstakingly covered with fresh sand, flowers, music, everything that these poor people were able to muster. When we finally reached the church–a wretched building-the Jesuit Father, who had been living there, impoverished, for forty years among his parish children, whispered in my ear: "Do not believe that these people did all that on account of Christoph Schönborn. They do it for Christ."
"A blind faith, one that would simply demand a leap into the utter void of uncertainty, would be no human faith."
"The temptation to dream of a ‘golden age’ of faith has accompanied the Church throughout the centuries. Now, as we look toward the year 2000, it is tempting to hope for a new epoch of faith, a time in which the Church will shine forth, opposition die away, and the faith be triumphant. . . . Yet it seems as if, at the end of the millennium, the torments of the Church are increasing."
"If we become aware once more that we are given a short time in which to fight this struggle, and if we never forget that we are to find and to take the path to eternal life in this brief span of our life, but also can fail to take this path or lose it, then we shall 'make the best use of the time' (Eph. 5:16), knowing how serious time is, and we shall 'live sober, righteous and pious lives in the present world' (Titus 2:12)."
"The ideal case is that of an artist who himself has the mystical vision that he seeks to represent. One could certainly compare it with theology. The ideal would certainly be that theologians should be saints, and that their sanctity would give them that conaturality with their object that would enable them to speak not only of theological ideas but of divine realities. If one is not a Saint Augustine or Saint Thomas, one had better take inspiration from the vision of the great masters rather than wish to be original at the expense of being empty. If the artist is not a saint, if he does not have experiental knowledge of the things of God, let him be inspired by those who have."
"Perhaps some of us still have, alongside an astoundingly developed scientific knowledge, only a "childish faith."
"The entire scientific enterprise is the discovery of order, laws, connections, and relationships. Let us say, using this book metaphor: It is the discovery of the letters, the grammar, the syntax, and ultimately of the text itself that God has put into this book of creation."
"The chief reason why there is so much gloom around in the Church today is that we do not respond generously to the bold challenges of God and fail to let ourselves be used, with all we are and all we have, as his co-workers (cf. 1 Cor. 3:9). The creature can never know a greater self-fulfillment than letting himself be totally used by God."
"The proposition that the relationship between the Church and science is a bad one, that faith and science, since time immemorial, have been in a state of interminable conflict, belongs to the enduring myths of our time, indeed, I would say, to the acquired prejudices of our time."
"You can deduce that we were convinced that he was the man God had indicated to us." [in reference to the election of Cardinal Ratzinger during the 2005 Conclave."
"We all felt he was our brother with superior qualities." [again in reference to Cardinal Ratzinger]
"Christ is more and more often conspicuously absent from ecclesiastical talk. There are whole pastoral programs, with game plans and models of action and guidelines, that do not mention the name of Christ once. Some people openly wish that there should be less talk about Christ and more about God, so that what separates us from the other monotheistic religions is not too evident. The way was paved for this trend over many years by the insidious undermining of faith in the true divinity of Christ and thus of faith in the true Incarnation of the Son of God."
"Is the crisis not also due to a flaw of theological teaching, to great deficiencies in doctrine? The danger of a false way of life is greater when you are taught false doctrines." [in reference to recent clergy scandals].
"Not that we learn it automatically like a sect, but the answers to faith questions are generally very simple. I fear that the young generation is largely incapable to give the basic answers concerning our faith."
"We are not dependent on all the ideologies past and coming. We have the security, this assurance of the magisterium of the Church and the guarantee of the Holy Spirit."
"Her reply to the theories regarding whether Jesus was the Son of God was stunningly simple: 'See, if Jesus is not the Son of God, then our faith is in vain.' It was the most important lesson in theology I had received in my life." [relating his mother's words to him as a child]
"The discussions in the United States on bioethics are much more serious and open than our European debate."
"For every Christian, commitment to the defense of life, together with concrete help, is an obligation that springs from the Gospel."
"[believers have the right of] a proper liturgy celebrated according to the Church norms and not to services based on subjective feelings."
"Yes, even bishops should ask themselves if they haven't forgotten to do their "homework" and looked away (from liturgical abuses - the translator)."
"Standard:
It looks as if there will be negotiations regarding Turkey’s
accession into the European Union (EU). What does that mean for you?
"For membership negotiations [in the EU] to prove fruitful [with Turkey], it has to be ensured that the legal criteria, the human rights criteria, which are valid for Europe, are also fully adhered to in Turkey."
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