Congressman Lance Celebrates Pope Francis’s Address to Congress

But American Catholics, who make up about one-fifth of the US electorate, remain deeply divided over their church’s directives. Numerous Pope’s views, in fact, are universal themes of finding compassion, offering forgiveness and showing mercy.

Sen. Angus King pointed to the urgency of the pope’s message to confront the polarization of politics and ensure justice for all.

Thousands have greeted the Pope wherever he and the little Fiat he rides in have gone during this visit, and it was no different at Congress yesterday.

Instead, the Pope’s remarks were seen as cautious and compassionate. Climate change simply can not be solved unless our hearts are engaged.

And Pope Francis did, with forceful pleas for lawmakers to address climate change, to welcome immigrants, to abolish the death penalty-all messages that sparked warm applause from Democrats and cautious claps from Republicans.

A frequent critic of the damage caused to the environment by capitalism’s excesses, the pope said Congress has an important role to play to “avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity”. He also noted one his heroes, American Thomas Merton, a Cistercian monk, who Francis said had “the capacity for dialogue and openness to God”. “This was an equal opportunity speech”. But, in the vein of the best Jesuit teachers, Francis praised America, its rich political history and its ideals before delicately delivering some things its political leaders might, well, want to consider working on.

Other parts of his speech may resonate more with Republicans in his audience.

“I feel like he is so close to me”, said Morfin, who, like her relatives, wore blue-and-white Argentine soccer team jerseys with the pope’s name emblazoned on the back.

He may explore some of these themes in his address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday.

That came right after, as lawmakers singled out their favorite lines from the pope’s address in flurry of dueling press releases. “So number one, we can’t afford this process”. Francis also touched on the Syrian refugee crisis, immigration and environmentalism.

“She was in tears when she saw the pope”, said Britt, 47, who works in public relations. “The question is what happens, how do you implement that?” At most, he threw conservatives a bone before offering a feast of red meat to Democrats.

We can expect more of Pope Francis’ gentle prodding when he speaks at Independence Hall on Saturday, the first major public event in his two days in Philadelphia.

Immigration has emerged as a hot-button issue in the 2016 presidential race, with Republican candidate Donald Trump saying he would deport about 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

He said that fundamentalism tempts people into a simplistic view of the world that sees only good and evil, and that it must be guarded against. “Whatever he will say, I agree with him”. “And if there are among you any who do not believe or cannot pray, I ask you please to send good wishes my way”, he said.

When he talked about family, just moments before his speech, I showed him a picture of my family-all 20 of us-my husband and I have five children and our grandchildren-and he blessed the photo for the 50 anniversary of our marriage-and it was so thrilling for me.

It was the strongest expression yet of his gratitude after the Vatican under his predecessor ordered an overhaul of the largest umbrella group of USA sisters, accusing them of straying from church teaching.

Demonstrating a powerful command of Jesuitical casuistry, Rubio explained that he honored Francis’ religious authority, but only when the pontiff was on the same wavelength as Republican primary voters.

“It’s how I try to live my life and what I teach my kids”, Britt said via email.

In the afternoon, he will fly to New York’s John F. Kennedy global Airport and attend vespers in the evening at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-Brooklyn) let out a whoop of support when Francis called for an end to the death penalty.

In a phone interview on the CNN “New Day” program, he said America’s burgeoning national debt means “we can’t afford” to support the wave of illegal immigration that Francis says the USA should embrace.

In more subtle language, he also reaffirmed the Church’s opposition to abortion, warned about attacks on the family, and repeated his call for respect of religious freedom.