Robert Sarah Quotes

“At the heart of man there is an innate silence, for God abides in the innermost part of every person.”

“On the question of marriage, there is a gulf between some people and the Church. The question, therefore, becomes quite simple: Must the world change its attitude, or must the Church change her fidelity to God?”

“Unfortunately, it is easier to destroy a country than to re-build it.”

“It is true, Archbishop Tchidimbo was very strict, intensely upright, and endlessly demanding. He used to come visit us at the minor seminary in Kindia. I remember that he insisted on the importance of spiritual qualities, and especially good character, moral integrity, and honesty. I can still hear him thunder to the class: "The first reason to expel a seminarian is for duplicity, the second, for duplicity, and the third, for duplicity."”

“Two millennia ago, the apostles followed Christ. They left everything, and their lives were never again the same. The path taken by the apostles is still a model today.”

“God or Nothing: A Conversation on Faith (Ignatius Press; Sew edition (September 1, 2015)) by Cardinal Robert Sarah (Author), Nicolas Diat (Author) ISBN 978-1621640509”

“We all must march to the same drum as Christ. The Church is reformed when the baptized march more resolutely toward holiness, allowing themselves to be recreated in the likeness of God by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

“Many expect, as something normal, that God should pour out his mercy on them while they remain in sin…”

“No prophet ever encountered God without withdrawing into solitude and silence. Moses, Elijah, and John the Baptist encountered God in the great silence of the desert. Today, too, monks seek God in solitude and silence. I am speaking, not just about geographical solitude or movement, but about an interior state. It is not enough to be quiet, either. It is necessary to become silence. For, even before the desert, the solitude and the silence, God is already in man. The true desert is within us, in our soul. Strengthened with this knowledge, we can understand how silence is indispensable if we are to find God. The Father waits for his children in their own hearts.”

“Baptized persons have the duty to believe not only with their heart but also with their intellect.”

“On that September morning I spent more than an hour with John Paul II. During the meal he asked me my age. I told him that I was thirty-four years old. He then let out a great burst of laughter and exclaimed: "But then you are a baby bishop! Un vescovo Bambino!" There was no arguing with that; I was at that time the youngest bishop in the world…”

“The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise (Ignatius Press; Paperback edition (April 15, 2017)) by Cardinal Robert Sarah (Author), Nicolas Diat (Author) ISBN 978-1621641919”

“Sin blurs man's face. Now Christ came not only to save mankind but also to repair what sin had broken, to snatch man away from everything that disfigures him, so as to restore to human destiny all its breadth and fulfillment.”