"Verbatim".

"Pope, make me well!"

--An Italian boy who was a cancer patient in the ward next to the pope's hospital suite, when he got to visit the pope (associated Press, Feb. 11, 2005)

"Snoop Dogg doesn't bear the weight of the Catholic or Baptist Church."

--Michael Eric Dyson, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, on the scapegoating of hip-hop music (New York Times, Feb. 4, 2005)

"People who have climbed 349 steps to the top of the dome and 349 steps back down to the roof need something to drink."

--Pier Carlo Visconti, director of administration for St. Peter's Basilica, on the building's rooftop coffee bar (Catholic News Service, Jan. 4, 2005)

"I don't think the Vatican is a big fan of Dan Brown."

--Simone Gozzi, president of the cultural association Dark Rome, which has organized a Rome church tour based on Brown's novel Angels and Demons (Catholic News Service, Dec. 30, 2004)

"I hope schools will realize it's less an exercise in tolerance than a platform for liberal groups to promote their pansexual agenda."

--Robert Knight, director of Concerned Women for America's Culture and Family Institute, criticizing "No Name-Calling Week," an annual event sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (Associated Press, Jan. 24, 2005)