Pope calls for global abolition of death penalty

But Francis did make a point of going over to Secretary of State John Kerry and shaking his hand.

“I never for a moment doubted his feelings about the issue of abortion and the church’s teaching on the subject”. This pope, by the way, has come out in support of the Iran nuclear deal.

Others like Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva praised the pope’s call to “redirect our steps and to avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity”.

“After speaking with the congressmen, the senators, he’s making the decision to go and have lunch with the homeless at the Catholic Charities”, said Father Atusameso, adding that this was uncharacteristic of his predecessors.

Cuellar said the pope was able to encourage dialogue to a divided Congress. Pope Francis reminded lawmakers that they are representing the people who elected them, and they need to always. “But he’s really begged us all to put that aside, and aspire to some of his values and ideals that he’s spelled out”.

But several Republicans, like Representative Paul Ryan, chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee in the House and a Catholic, said Francis was “talking principles, not specific policies” on immigration and climate.

“That reflects big changes that have happened to the family and American life since Vatican II and the post-World War era”, Adler said. He told VOA he thought the speech was “great”.

“And before the people of Israel entered the land of Israel, Moses gave us a message that has steeled our resolve for thousands of years”.

“Rome’s a long way away, so instead of getting on a plane for eight hours, we decided to get into a auto and road-trip down to Philly for the historic event”, she told CTV’s Canada AM by phone on Friday. They cried, you saw members of Congress openly weeping to having tears in their eyes and the excitement and the applause that he was met with, especially when he said the golden rule.

Francis’ plea for the sanctity of marriage and the family, and respect for life at all stages won him an enthusiastic standing ovation from Republicans, while some Democrats did not applaud.

On Wednesday, he publicly praised President Barack Obama at the White House for his initiatives to reduce air pollution as part of the pope’s push to fight climate change, which the pontiff says disproportionately affects the poor.

“And if there are among you who do not believe or cannot pray, I ask you please to send good wishes my way”. All four worked to advance the common good.

This week, Pope Francis has thrilled pro-life activists with countless pro-life statements before Congress and at different venues in the United States. “Now is the time for courageous actions and strategies, aimed at implementing a “culture of care” and ‘an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature”.