A mother’s love for her child reflects God’s love for each and every human person, according to previous popes of the Catholic Church. Throughout the years, these Church leaders have recognized the importance of the mothers in our lives, including the mother we all share, Mary, Mother of God.
For Mother’s Day, here are 12 quotes from the last five popes (before Pope Leo XIV) providing insight into the meaning of motherhood:
1. “Thank you, women who are mothers! You have sheltered human beings within yourselves in a unique experience of joy and travail. This experience makes you become God’s own smile upon the newborn child, the one who guides your child’s first steps, who helps it to grow, and who is the anchor as the child makes its way along the journey of life.”
—Pope St. John Paul II, in his letter to women, June 29, 1995
2. “A society without mothers would be a dehumanized society, for mothers are always, even in the worst moments, witnesses of tenderness, dedication and moral strength. … Dearest mothers, thank you, thank you for what you are in your family and for what you give to the Church and the world.”
— Pope Francis, during his general audience on Jan. 7, 2015
3. “The presence of a mother within the family is so important for the stability and growth of this fundamental cell of society, that it should be recognized, commended and supported in every possible way.”
— Pope Benedict XVI, in an address during his apostolic journey to Cameroon and Angola, March 22, 2009
4. “(M)otherhood is woman’s vocation: It was yesterday, it is today, it will be always; it is her eternal vocation. There come to my mind the words of a song of my country. These say that a mother is the one who understands everything and embraces each of us with her heart. And they add that today the world is ‘hungrier and thirstier’ than ever for that motherhood which, physically or spiritually, is woman’s vocation, as it was Mary’s.”
— Pope St. John Paul II, in a speech to young people, Jan. 10, 1979
5. “Spiritual motherhood takes on many different forms. … it can express itself as concern for people, especially the most needy: the sick, the handicapped, the abandoned, orphans, the elderly, children, young people, the imprisoned and, in general, people on the edges of society.”
— Pope St. John Paul II, in his apostolic letter, Mulieris Dignitatem, Aug. 15, 1988
6. “Always remember that by her children a mother belongs to that future which perhaps she will not see.”
— Pope St. Paul VI, in his address to women on Dec. 8, 1965
7. “My mother used to tell me when I was a boy: ‘When you were little, you were very ill. I had to take you from one doctor to another and watch over you whole nights; do you believe me?’ How could I have said: ‘I don’t believe you, Mamma?’ ‘Of course I believe, I believe what you tell me, but I believe especially in you.’ And so it is in faith. It is not just a question of believing in the things that God revealed, but in him who deserves our faith, who has loved us so much and done so much for our sake.”
— Blessed Pope John Paul I, during his general audience on Sept. 13, 1978
8. “Motherhood involves a special communion with the mystery of life … . In the light of the ‘beginning,’ the mother accepts and loves as a person the child she is carrying in her womb. This unique contact with the new human being developing within her gives rise to an attitude towards human beings — not only towards her own child, but every human being — which profoundly marks the woman’s personality.”
— Pope St. John Paul II, in his apostolic letter, Mulieris Dignitatem, Aug. 15, 1988
9. “With great affection I urge all future mothers: Keep happy and let nothing rob you of the interior joy of motherhood. Your child deserves your happiness. Don’t let fears, worries, other people’s comments or problems lessen your joy at being God’s means of bringing a new life to the world.”
— Pope Francis, in his post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, March 19, 2016
10. “A mother joins with God to bring forth the miracle of a new life.”
— Pope Francis, in his post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, March 19, 2016
11. “(T)here is an everyday heroism, made up of gestures of sharing, big or small, which build up an authentic culture of life … . Part of this daily heroism is also the silent but effective and eloquent witness of all those ‘brave mothers who devote themselves to their own family without reserve, who suffer in giving birth to their children and who are ready to make any effort, to face any sacrifice, in order to pass on to them the best of themselves.'”
— Pope St. John Paul II, in his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, March 25, 1995
12. “(W)e are the objects of undying love on the part of God. We know: He has always his eyes open on us, even when it seems to be dark. He is our father; even more he is our mother. He does not want to hurt us, he wants only to do good to us, to all of us. If children are ill, they have additional claim to be loved by their mother. And we too, if by chance we are sick with badness, on the wrong track, have yet another claim to be loved by the Lord.”
— Blessed Pope John Paul I, during the Angelus on Sept. 10, 1978
