If in my life I fail completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be 'devout' and to perform my 'religious duties', then my relationship with God will also grow arid. It becomes merely 'proper', but loveless.
Pope Benedict XviRead
Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. There may be legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not... with regard to abortion and euthanasia.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that certain moral issues, like abortion and euthanasia, are of greater ethical significance than others where opinions can vary.
Pope Benedict XVI asserts that while moral dilemmas such as war and the death penalty may invite diverse viewpoints, the issues of abortion and euthanasia are unequivocally distinct in their moral implications. He emphasizes that these latter issues carry an undeniable weight that transcends subjective interpretations, suggesting an inherent right and wrong that is absolute rather than relative.
Themes
MoralityAbortionEuthanasiaEthicsDiversity Of OpinionCatholicWarDeath Penalty
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the moral framework within religious ethics.
More from Pope Benedict Xvi
All quotes →The life of the community, both domestically and internationally, clearly demonstrates that respect for rights, and the guarantees that follow from them, are measures of the common good that serve to evaluate the relationship between justice and injustice, development and poverty, security and conflict.
Pope Benedict XviRead
If you follow the will of God, you know that in spite of all the terrible things that happen to you, you will never lose a final refuge. You know that the foundation of the world is love, so that even when no human being can or will help you, you may go on, trusting in the One that loves you.
Pope Benedict XviRead
I am consoled by the fact that the Lord knows how to work and how to act, even with insufficient tools.
Pope Benedict XviRead
Faith is above all a personal, intimate encounter with Jesus, and to experience [His] closeness, [His] friendship, [His] Love; only in this way does one learn to know [Him] ever more, and to love and follow [Him] ever more. May this happen to each one of us.
Pope Benedict XviRead
Do not be afraid of seeming different and being criticized for what might seem to be losing or out of fashion; your peers but adults too, especially those who seem more distant from the mindset and values of the Gospel, are crying out to see someone who dares to live according to the fullness of humanity revealed by Jesus Christ.
Pope Benedict XviRead
Similar quotes
One of the greatest threats to mankind today is that the world may be choked by an explosively pervading but well camouflaged bureaucracy.
Norman BorlaugRead
We must rekindle the fire of idealism in our society, for nothing suffocates the promise of America more than unbounded cynicism and indifference.
Joe BidenRead
There are times, however, and this is one of them, when even being right feels wrong. What do you say, for instance, about a generation that has been taught that rain is poison and sex is death?
Hunter S. ThompsonRead
A psychoneurosis must be understood, ultimately, as the suffering of a soul which has not discovered its meaning.
Carl JungRead
It doth not hurt", whispered a faint voice, "She will take you life and all you are and all you care'st for, and she will leave you with nothing but mist and fog. She'll take your joy. And one day you'll wake and your heart and soul will have gone. A husk you'll be, a wisp you'll be, and a thing no more than a dream on waking, or a memory of something forgotten.
Neil GaimanRead
He who doesn't pray to the Lord prays to the devil.
Pope FrancisRead