The pope dies, you get another pope.
You say you're going to be the pope, become the pope.
Pope John Paul II's press secretary, who said, See, if only the Pope were Italian, he woulda shot back! Never got a dinner!
His Holiness Pope John Paul II was a determined and deeply spiritual minded person for whom I had great respect and admiration. His experience in Poland, then a communist country, and my own difficulties with communists, gave us an immediate common ground
Out of the Roman States there is no country where I am Pope except the United States.
I'm not going for the sixteenth chapel.
[Pope Francis] is a humble man. He lives the faith out in his own personal life. ... He's here to be a shepherd; he isn't here to be a scold. I think that's a good thing for the church and for the world, frankly.
The one and only time I met Pope Benedict XVI was when he was Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.
I'm really encouraged by Pope Francis, because I think his attitude is totally laudable.
I don't think you get to be pope without making some enemies, like you do when you're president.
I would like to be Pope if I could.
What a terrible thing it would be to be the Pope! What unthinkable responsibilities to fall on your shoulders at an advanced age! No privacy. No seclusion. No sin.
His Holiness brings a wealth of experience to this exalted office. The United Nations and the Holy See share a strong commitment to peace, social justice, human dignity, religious freedom and mutual respect among the world's religions.
...centre of the centre, the real heart of Christianity as it has been until now.
It is with extreme sadness that we hear of the passing of the leader of the world's Catholics, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, who commanded the three paths of religious learning, philosophical thought and poetical and artistic creativity.
The Church of Rome, the Pope has always said, 'Seek peace.'
The Catholic Church [with Pope John Paul II] has lost its shepherd. The world has lost a champion of human freedom.
We have lost a very important religious figure who dedicated his life to peace and justice for all. [on the death of Pope John Paul II
[Joseph Ratzinger] is a man who as the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had everything in his hands. He conducted all the investigations, and went on, went on, went on, until he couldn't go any further in the execution.
The Holy Father held a special place in the hearts of more than 1 billion Catholics worldwide.
Please receive in the name of the Spanish government and the people of Spain our warmest congratulations for your election as Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church and my best wishes for the Papacy which you begin today. [to Pope Benedict XVI]
I'm going to become the Pope next year. Nothing is impossible.
But I make a distinction between the doctrines of the Church, which matter, and the structure invented by half a dozen Italians who got to be pope and which is of very little use to anybody.
The new Pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is now Pope Francis the 1st. Francis was not his first choice for a name. But the Vatican wisely talked him out of Pope Boo Boo.
Brothers and sisters, good evening. You all know that the duty of the conclave was to give a bishop to Rome. It seems that my brother cardinals have gone almost to the ends of the earth to get him... but here we are.
