Above all, we must have great respect for these people who also suffer and who want to find their own way of correct living. On the other hand, to create a legal form of a kind of homosexual marriage, in reality, does not help these people. – Joseph Ratzinger
Standards of conduct appropriate to civil society or the workings of a democracy cannot be purely and simply applied to the Church. – Joseph Ratzinger
The fact that the church is convinced of not having the right to confer priestly ordination on women is now considered by some as irreconcilable with the European Constitution. – Joseph Ratzinger
A just laicism allows religious freedom. The state does not impose religion but rather gives space to religions with a responsibility toward civil society, and therefore it allows these religions to be factors in building up society. – Joseph Ratzinger