Pope’s Reference to Abortion That Received a Bipartisan Standing Ovation From

“The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development”, Francis said in his speech to the Congress.

The death penalty has recently been an issue among many U.S. Bishops and priests, who are demanding that it be done away with. “I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred”, he added.

But it has been reluctant to completely do away with award of death penalty, saying there were certain cases where, as long as the extreme penalty was stipulated by law, capital punishment was in sync with the gravity and brutality of the crime and socie ty’s cry for justice.

While the Pope spreads his message of peace, love and life during his American tour, the Catholic justices of the court can be happy about one thing: They will not be excommunicated for their deviation from the Pope’s position of opposition to the death penalty.

On Thursday, Pope Francis addressed a joint session of Congress as part of his first visit to the United States. He says that not only do they have his support, but his encouragement will be everyone who opines that a necessary punishment should also be just and never ignore the “hope” and ‘goal of retaliation’. The bench was possibly attempting to include an important point -if life sentence is to be awarded in “rarest of rare” category of murder cases where death penalty is given at present, would it mean these are at par with other life sentences spanning 14 years? He called for its “global abolition” and arguing that any punishment should never preclude the chance for rehabilitation. Pope Francis challenged Congress to use its power to lift up the poor, to heal the earth, to welcome immigrants and basically, to employ the Golden Rule and treat others as you would want to be treated.

He said governments, including the USA, must fight religious, economical, and ideological fundamentalism without stomping on people’s rights to intellectual and individual freedom.