By and large the United States has been able to resist the temptation to close its doors to the world.

We should embrace our immigrant roots and recognize that newcomers to our land are not part of the problem, they are part of the solution.

Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members - the last, the least, the littlest.

I'm very close to the pro-life movement.

I personally believe, as church law sets out, that sanctions are an absolute last resort, particularly penal sanctions of depriving people of the sacraments.

It's hard to determine where lies culpability.

The church also does not condone a broken immigration system in the U.S., one that too easily can lead to the exploitation, abuse and even death of immigrants.

With respect to Holy Communion, it is up to the communicant to decide whether they are in a state of grace and worthy to receive the Eucharist. Each one of us makes that decision.

Canon law itself says for one case of guilt, a priest can be dismissed from the clerical state. One.

Immigration should be enforced in a proportional and humane manner.

I found out that many of our Catholics simply don't know what the church teaches, and why, on a lot of issues, and therefore are saying things that they think are okay. They simply don't know.

My recipe for life is not being afraid of myself afraid of what I think or of my opinions.

I love to paint. And I have another profession - an interior design business.

As a former Catholic, and as someone who even today is not opposed to being called a Christian, I felt I had every right to use the symbols of the Church and resented being told not to.

You try to become the character that you're working with. So for me, I try to block out the cameras and try to trick my mind that this is actually happening.

I find old copies of National Gallery catalogues, which are written in the dryest possible prose, infinitely soothing.

Even I, when I was a student in London, often wore Western clothes, and yet I'm the most Indian Indian I know.

If we behave like those on the other side, then we are the other side. Instead of changing the world, all we'll achieve is a reflection of the one we want to destroy.

Healing and positive life change comes from having the courage and spiritual conviction to look squarely at life's impermanence.

What justice would there be to take this life? Justice, gentlemen? Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this.

...precisely where the land touched water at high tide, where things came together but also separated.