The Church is more than the buildings and the ecclesiastical structure; the Church is us, the members. We are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with Christ at the head and the prophet as His mouthpiece.

Properly understood, the church is not an institution. It is the community of Jesus' followers on earth - men, women, an children filled with God's Spirit, living in communion with him, one another, and the world.

A church that has it recognizes that reaching people is not just the pastor's job. It's everyone's job.

The Church is the members. They are the ones who willingly and joyfully give… to help those of us in need.

[LGBTQ people] are fully members of the church. It’s just a question of getting people to understand that.

The Church is evolving. The face of the Church is no longer European or American, but also African and Asian. It is very interesting to see the universality of the Church. This is one of the most impressive parts of this encounter, I think.

One of the things that comes to mind when I think of St Augustine, his vision and his understanding of what it means to belong to the Church, is what he says about not being able to say you are a follower of Christ without being part of the Church. Christ is part of the Church. He is the head. So anyone who thinks they can follow Christ ‘in their own way’ without being part of the body is, unfortunately, a distortion of what is an authentic experience. St Augustine has an omnipresent wisdom that helps us to live in communion. Unity and communion are essential charisms of the life of the Order and a fundamental part of understanding what the Church is and what it means to be in the Church.

The Church as an institution personalizes a whole people on the move; it is a force for action. There is also a danger: the Church should not be limited to consecrated or clerical members but to all the baptized. Through challenges and controversies, joys and projects, the Church tries to make a central place for Christ, the Gospel and Gospel values. It is made up of human beings and, therefore, is not perfect.

The Church has gone in search of lost sheep, with patience and perseverance, full of love. Encourage and accept the participation of the lay faithful, because they contribute to the work in the field of the Lord.

The faithful do not have to dedicate only the temple to God the Father but also the sacred temple of the heart.

The ecclesial communities which have not preserved the valid Episcopate and the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic mystery, are not Churches in the proper sense; however, those who are baptized in these communities are, by Baptism, incorporated in Christ and thus are in a certain communion, albeit imperfect, with the Church.

May you encounter a Church that is not only an institution, an institution to be defended, to be protected, which you have wisely done for 500 years now, but also a community, a believing community which has met the living and true Christ, which loves him, and intends to serve him in everyday life.

The Church is always calling us. We are people of one nation. We believe in the one same Christ, and we should be working toward the fulfillment of Christ's prayer that all be one. And Jesus, when he speaks through the Church says that he has one flock, one sheep-fold, using the imagery of the shepherd. And yet I have other sheep that are not of this fold, and I must reach out of them. This is the mandate that Christ gave to us.

True believing Christians are sheep among wolves. ... They employ neither worldly sword nor war, since with them killing is absolutely renounced.