Muriel Spark Quotes

I can't speak to the differences within the Catholic Church.

Anybody can be Pope; the proof of this is that I have become one.

The Pope is not a political figure.

As for your pope of whom you speak, he must be mad to speak of giving away countries that do not belong to him.

The Vatican is the last absolute monarchy on earth.

The Pope is the man, and the Pope can do whatever the Pope wants to do.

I didn't really start writing about the church in earnest until the mid-2000s, so I wasn't present for or a participant in a lot of the John Paul II-era debates about papal authority.

It is particularly moving, and I can say this also as a Protestant Christian, that a German - one of us - has been made Pope.

But to be the Vicar of Christ, to claim to exercise his prerogatives on earth, does involve a claim to his attributes, and therefore our opposition to Popery is opposition to a man claiming to be God.

The difference between me and most Protestants is most Protestants have no problem at all saying 'The Lord told me this' or 'The Lord told me that,' but they won't believe that the Lord speaks through the pope. You know, at least this guy has some credentials.

I do believe in the infallibility of the Pope, because I think we have to believe in something.

He spoke like a professor and forgot that he had since become Pope.

The trouble with [President William Howard] Taft is that if he were Pope he would think it necessary to appoint a few Protestant cardinals.

The most harmful thing in Christianity … is the leadership of one man in the Church—for instance, the pope, and his supposed infallibility. It is precisely in the dogma of his infallibility that the greatest mistake is contained, for the pope is a sinful man

The Pope is a son of a bitch.

I'm a huge admirer of Pope Francis and everything he stands for. I think he's an incredibly connected spiritual and authentic being.

Out of the Roman States there is no country where I am Pope except the United States.

Pope John Paul II was unquestionably the most influential voice for morality and peace in the world during the last 100 years.

I'm really encouraged by Pope Francis, because I think his attitude is totally laudable.

I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.

The pope dies, you get another pope.

The Roman Catholic Church isn't going to change its theologies.

If I were going to convert to any religion I would probably choose Catholicism because it at least has female saints and the Virgin Mary.

The Vatican has to strike a difficult balance between running a country and running a religious institution.

Pope John Paul, a man of peace and compassion, was one of the most revered leaders of our time.