Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Quotes from Pope Benedict referring to GKC

"G.K. Chesterton was often blessed with the gift of a striking turn of phrase. He certainly hit upon a decisve aspect of St. Thomas Aquinas when he observed that, if the great doctor were to be given a name in the style of the Carmelite Order ('...of the Child Jesus,' 'Of the Mother of God,' etc.), he would have to be called Thomas a Creatore, 'Thomas of the Creator.'"

-Pope Benedict XVI, In the Beginning: A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall.


"What stayed with her, however, was that now she continually found Christ in everyday life, in people and things. Thus, she came to understand Chesterton when he described men and women who, signed with Christ's Cross, cheerfully walk through darkness."

-Pope Benedict XVI, Coworkers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year


"...I think it's very important to be able to see the funny side of life and its joyful dimension and not to take everything too tragically. I'd also say it's necessary for my ministry. A writer once said that angels can fly because they don't take themselves too seriously. Maybe we could also fly a bit if we didn't think we were so important."

-From an interview given by Pope Benedict to the German media in 2006 [Source]

See here for the source of the quotation that Pope Benedict referred to

UPDATE: Another instance of Pope Benedict quoting Chesterton:

"Without conversion, however, we cannot come to Jesus, nor arrive at the gospel. There is a paradoxical saying of Chesterton's that expresses this circumstance exactly: "A saint can be recognised by the fact that he knows himself to be a sinner."

-The Essential Pope Benedict XVI: His Central Writings and Speeches, "Meditation on the Priesthood" (p. 272)

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