- Francis opens last day of Washington visit with rebuke of congressional Republicans over lack of compassion for immigrants and refugees
- Francis lectures lawmakers about ‘defend[ing] human life at every stage of its development’ and ending the death penalty
- Subtle jab at gay marriage: ‘I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without’
Pope Francis delivered a stinging blow to nativist conservatives bent on keeping illegal immigrants and Middle Eastern refugees out of the United States, saying Thursday in a landmark address to Congress that Americans should show compassion to immigrants of all stripes.
‘When the stranger in our midst appeals to us, we must not repeat the sins and the errors of the past,’ the Roman Catholic pontiff said. ‘We must resolve now to live as nobly and as justly as possible, as we educate new generations not to turn their back on our “neighbors” and everything around us.’
Speaking in English – a language he has learned only recently – Francis also dropped coded messages to conservatives about gay marriage and abortion, and made an impassioned plea for a left-leaning approach to capital punishment in an unprecedented visit to Capitol Hill by a sitting Pope.
‘I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without,’ Francis told a packed House chamber filled with legislators, Supreme Court justices and multiple presidential candidates.
‘Fundamental relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage and the family.’
And without mentioning abortion by name – or the name of the embattled domestic Planned Parenthood organization – Francis told lawmakers that the ‘Golden Rule … reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development.’
Francis spoke calmly but emphatically, never raising his voice as presidents often do in their State of the Union addresses to joint congressional sessions.
He was greeted by polite applause at certain points – particularly when he began reciting the Golden Rule but was interrupted before he could finish – ‘do unto others as you would have done unto you.’
Also, notably, applause broke out after these words: ‘The Golden Rule reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of development.’
But the applause was never raucous, a sign that members heeded party leaders’ directive not to applaud effusively or ‘glad-handle’ Francis if they got close to him.
Behind him on the raised speaker’s dais, close watchers got a different show during the speech, as both Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner – both well-known emotional men – proved to be almost as watchable.
Throughout the speech, Biden gravely nodded his head and looked down as if in serious thought. But Boehner appeared to tear up at several points, and was openly crying later on the Speaker’s Balcony after the address.
Francis’s speech was sprinkled with references to American history, as the pontiff repeatedly referenced and occasionally quoted from President Abraham Lincoln, civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., Catholic Worker Movement founder Dorothy Day and Cistercerian monk Thomas Merton.
The pontiff made clear his firmness on the sanctity of human life, not only the veiled reference to abortion but also his opposition to the death penalty.
Biden, a Roman Catholic who co-presided over the Joint Session of Congress as the constitutionally appointed president of the U.S. Senate, caused a stir this week by declaring that he believes life begins at conception.
But it’s Francis’ comments about immigrants that will be most sharply felt as the U.S. deals with the twin crises of Syrian refugees and an immigrant invasion from Mexico and Central America, both of which the Obama administration has taken steps to pacify by loosening America’s borders as a show of compassion.
‘Thousands of persons are led to travel north in search of a better life for themselves and for their loved ones in search of greater opportunities’ in in North America, he said. ‘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. To respond in a way which is always humane, just and fraternal.’
Without naming Syria, the Muslim faith, the ISIS terror army, or any of the European nations that have hedged their bets again welcoming the tide of migrants displaced by Islamist armies, Francis noted ‘a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Second World War.’
‘This presents us with great challenges and many hard decisions,’ he said.
The papal address – the first in US history – was carried live on national television networks
Ultimately the shepherd of more than 1.2 billion Catholics counseled adherence to a Biblical do-unto-others philosophy.
‘Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated,’ he implored Congress. ‘Let us seek for others the same possibilities which we seek for ourselves. Let us help others to grow, as we would like to be helped ourselves.’
‘In a word, if we want security, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us.’
Francis did warn against religious fundamentalism of the type that drew ISIS into the fight that has displaced an estimated 4 million Syrians, mostly young men.
‘Our world is increasingly a place of violent conflict, hatred and brutal atrocities, committed even in the name of God and of religion,’ he said.
‘We know that no religion is immune from forms of individual delusion or ideological extremism. This means that we must be especially attentive to every type of fundamentalism, whether religious or of any other kind.’
But he split the baby, Solomon-like, between combating ‘violence perpetrated in the name of a religion, an ideology or an economic system’ on the one hand, and ‘safeguarding religious freedom, intellectual freedom and individual freedoms’ on the other.
It’s no surprise that the Pope made a point to lecture Congress about the death penalty, a sticking point with the Church as it deals with governments the world over.
‘Society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes,’ he said Thursday.
‘Recently my brother bishops here in the United States renewed their call for the abolition of the death penalty. Not only do I support them, but I also offer encouragement to all those who are convinced that a just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation.’
Reaction to the pope’s speech united Democrats in effusiveness, such as Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, who called it ‘inspiring and uplifting to Catholics and non-Catholics alike.’
‘He has such optimism in human nature and in the future, and is calling upon our better angels to achieve the best goodness we can for humankind,’ Schumer said.
Republicans were more terse. While none panned the speech, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin – the 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee, was among those who pointedly noted the pontiff’s call for religious freedom.
Ryan called it ‘timely and inspiring,’ in light of social divisions over gay marriage that have some complaining that the government isn’t respecting the freedom of those who disagree with the practice.
Outside of Congress, critics were easier to find. John-Henry Westen, editor-in-chief of LifeSiteNews, and a longtime anti-abortion activist, called the speech ‘a missed opportunity’ to influence the ongoing congressional debate over whether to fund Planned Parenthood.
‘Pope Francis just missed perhaps his greatest opportunity to make a difference on life,’ Westen said in a statement.
Shortly after his address, Francis appeared on the Speaker’s balcony, a small patio that looks out over the Capitol’s west-side lawn towards the National Mall and the Washington Monument.
Here, he began a short address in Spanish, then switched to Italian, and finished in English.
‘I am so grateful for your presence here,’ Francis said. ‘The most important ones here – children. I will ask God to bless them.’
Following a short prayer in Italian, Francis continued in Italian to ask the audience for their prayers on his own behalf, and even asked those ‘who do not believe or cannot pray… to send good wishes my way.’
‘Thank you very much, and God bless America,’ Francis finished in English.
Francis’s speech to a fractitious Congress had many Republicans wary of a lecture, as the pope is a well-known advocate of efforts to battle air pollution and has embraced the Democratic Party’s traditional acceptance of global warming.
In a meeting with Obama on Wednesday, Francis had reportedly called Obama’s efforts to fight climate change ‘encouraging.’
Francis has also been an outspoken opponent of unbridled capitalism and has advocated forcefully for more income equality around the globe – stances which align him closely with the White House but which have been staunchly opposed by congressional Republicans.
Underscoring the tension over those and other issues, at least one House Republican, Paul Gosar, boycotted the pope’s speech out of protest.
Francis arrived at the Capitol at 9:20 a.m., beginning his visit with a photo-op with House Speaker John Boehner that was only open to the press for about two minutes.
Boehner made a few awkward attempts at jokes, at one point saying he wanted to wear ‘a more conservative tie,’ than the green one he was wearing, at which point Francis signalled his approval of Boehner’s tie to soft laughter. An interpreter hovered between the two men.
The speech in the House of Representatives was attended by more than 500 senators and representatives and Supreme Court justices. As is customary for State of the Union speeches, Francis was flanked behind him by Boehner and Biden, who first met Francis Tuesday at Andrews Air Force Base.
Francis’ speech comes on his last day of a three-day trip to Washington.
After touching down at Andrews Air Force Base from Cuba late Tuesday, the pontiff was greeted by a welcoming ceremony at the White House on Wednesday morning, followed by a private Oval Office visit with President Obama and an address at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in downtown D.C.
Following his congressional speech, Francis is scheduled to address a much smaller audience of about 200 people in the Catholic Charities organization at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, before leaving for Andrews Air Force Base and then to New York City.
The pontiff visits New York on Friday and Saturday – which will include an address to the United Nations on Friday – and then Philadelphia later on Saturday and Sunday.
He returns to Rome on Sunday from Philadelphia.
THE FULL TEXT: POPE FRANCIS’ SPEECH TO CONGRESS