Pope Francis Addresses Congress

Pope Francis didn’t mention either in his speech, but Breen said he views the Argentine pope’s leadership as an invitation to constructive dialogue about topics once completely off-limits. Many conservative Catholics in the USA are not happy with his criticism of capitalism that exploits workers for the objective of increasing profits. How essential the family has been to the building of this country! “It is my desire that this spirit continue to develop and grow, so that as many young people as possible can inherit and dwell in a land which has inspired so many people to dream”, is how Francis ended his speech.

Aversion to illegal immigrants has featured heavily in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham and Bernie Sanders, in addition to retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and N.J. Gov. Chris Christie.

As he did Wednesday at his appearance with Obama, the pope again called for action to combat climate change.

Showing he had studied the United States before the visit – something he said he would do during the Rome August break – he used four iconic US citizens as relevant models of virtue for Americans today: Abraham Lincoln, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. “To respond in a way which is always humane, just and fraternal”.

“…When the stranger in our midst appeals to us, we must not repeat the sins and the errors of the past”.

“It’s not as if we are keeping score ‘is the pope with you or against you, ‘” said California Rep. Xavier Becerra, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. I am confident that we can do this.

Certainly, the Pope’s speech was one that progressives will cheer. He tends to not go off script when he speaks in English. And he asked, “Is this not what we want for our own children?”

“We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation”, he said.

Awaiting the pope’s arrival, Boehner repeatedly straightened his tie and shifted from foot to foot, and joked and chatted with reporters about the history of the House furnishings. “Let us seek for others the same possibilities which we seek for ourselves”. In June, the USA supreme court in effect removed barriers to carrying out executions when it gave the go-ahead for the use of a controversial drug, midazolam, in death protocols – thus clearing a legal barrier that had been holding states back for several months.

Francis has made migration the top priority of his pontificate.

After Francis addressed Congress, the first pontiff to do so, he underscored his message by traveling to a downtown Washington church, where he mingled with needy and homeless people, blessed their noontime meal and walked among them while they ate. But the call to do better was directed to all.

Global warming skeptics took heart in his statements.

“What you see is what you get”, Guillory said of the pope.

The wide-ranging speech addressed issues from global security and the Syrian refugee crisis to the mistreatment of Native Americans and the importance of family values, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church walked a line between praising American democracy while also calling on Washington’s leaders to be more compassionate on certain matters. To care for those who are less fortunate or in poverty. “Fundamental relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage and the family”.

He says in his speech to Congress that “no religion is immune from forms of individual delusion or ideological extremism”. Pope Francis called for an end to the death penalty in the U.S. and around the world.

After all, the pope was once considered by many in this country to be the leader of a reactionary, absolutist threat to American liberty and to Protestant dominance.

“The Golden Rule… reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development”.