There should be reluctance to make a national policy so inflexible that it fails to take into account the country's diversity.

The long arc of history that recounts the Catholic Church's embrace of people of all faiths and none in providing health, education, and welfare in society is as incontestable as it is impressive.

We Catholics have been in the forefront in defending the dignity of the human person. Clericalism is a direct violation of human dignity.

Clericalism is a form of elitism in which some are viewed as having special rights and privileges.

Our schools must be places where all are respected and the values of tolerance and peacemaking are taught and nurtured.

Racism is a sin and has no place in the church, including the Archdiocese of Chicago.

We are called to care for those sickened by pollution, house those displaced by environmental calamities, and heal the spirits of those - especially our youth - who are disheartened by a world where human survival is now in question.

Those who do not think religious organizations should have an opinion on climate change misunderstand the former and the moral dimension of the latter.

I think that the Pope has trust in every bishop that is appointed.

I was really grateful to have a chance to have some really in-depth study about the power of language using a philosopher who taught at the University of Chicago by the name of Paul Ricoeur. I'm really happy to be in Chicago because a lot of what I do is rooted in his approach to language.

I try to be sensitive to the power of language, to the power of language that God uses to reveal something about what Christ is doing in our time. That is why I'm always excited about preaching, because there is always something new.

I did my doctoral dissertation on the lectionary readings that we use at mass and how you have biblical texts that have been taken out of their original Bible context and put together for mass, and now they form a new text. Out of that new text, there is an interplay of new meaning.

Christ receives people; because of that mercy, conversion happens.

We have to believe in the mercy and grace of God to trigger conversion rather than the other way around: that you're only going to get the mercy if you have a conversion. The economy of salvation doesn't work that way.

We have to be sure we don't pigeonhole one group as though they're not part of the human family, as though there's a different set of rules for them. That would be a big mistake.

We help immigrants because we are an immigrant nation, and we are an immigrant church. We've always done that; this is nothing new to us. This is not a new venture for us. It's who we are and have been from the very beginning of the history of the Catholic Church in this country.

We budget quite a bit of money every year in order to assist people who are migrating here, people who are trying to enter into our society and be a part of the American dream.

Once kids begin to realize that they are connected to a greater good and greater whole, then that will lessen the possibility that they will act out violently because it creates empathy.

We are an immigrant nation.

The nation's children, families, poor, workers, and senior citizens deserve more than lip service. They deserve more than outrage. They deserve real support, protection, and solid action.

If we create a framework for decision-making that is biased toward life, supportive of families, and fair to people of all circumstances, our policies, legislation, and commercial decisions will be vastly different.

The open and generous nature of the American people has the capacity to astonish and push boundaries. We crowdfund, sign petitions, dump buckets of ice on ourselves, and embrace new ways of relating to our environment.

People should be called the way that they want to be called rather than us coming up with terms that maybe we're more comfortable with.

We have always wanted to make sure that we start the conversation by saying that all people are of value and their lives should be respected and that we should respect them.