I see clearly that the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity.

By welcoming a marginalized person whose body is wounded and by welcoming the sinner whose soul is wounded, we put our credibility as Christians on the line. Let us always remember the words of Saint John of the Cross: "In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.

I dream of a church that is a mother and shepherdess.

The Church is a mother, and her motherly attention is expressed with special tenderness and closeness to those who are obliged to flee their own country and exist between rootlessness and integration.

The Church does not exist to condemn people but to bring about an encounter with the visceral love of God's mercy.

Only a merciful Church shines! Were we to forget, even only for a moment, that mercy is 'what pleases God most,' all our efforts would be in vain, for we would become slaves of our institutions and our structures, however renewed they might be. We would always be slaves.