Washington — Pope Francis called for lawmakers to embrace a "spirit of cooperation" in an historic address to a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday, while he took firm political stances on the issues that have inspired some of the nation's sharpest divisions.
The pope’s message hewed to no political party. With a government shutdown possible within a week due to fighting over government funding for abortion, Francis took on the Republican view by speaking of “our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development.”
But he spent far more time on a Democrat-friendly charge that Congress has "an important role to play" in fighting climate change. Francis quoted heavily from his encyclical this year on the subject.
The first Latin American pope also called on legislators to open their arms to immigrants, as Congress has bitterly fought for years on an immigration reform plan that remains stifled by conservatives who do not want to give “amnesty” to lawbreakers. He compared the refugees from the Syrian war to those heading North from Latin America:
"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. We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays: to discard whatever proves troublesome."
While Democrats applauded more than Republicans during this stretch, all rose for a standing ovation for the pope’s admonition to follow the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Francis also expressed concern, in less explicit terms, about the legalization of same-sex marriage:
"I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without. Fundamental relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage and the family. I can only reiterate the importance and, above all, the richness and the beauty of family life."
The pope touched on many of the same topics Wednesday at the White House, but his speech to Congress was more detailed and forceful, delivered to a group riven by partisanship – rather than the president and 11,000 screaming supporters.
He gave an extended tribute to Atlanta’s Martin Luther King Jr., one of four Americans he singled out as examples along with Abraham Lincoln, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton:
"Here too I think of the march which Martin Luther King led from Selma to Montgomery fifty years ago as part of the campaign to fulfill his 'dream' of full civil and political rights for African Americans. That dream continues to inspire us all. I am happy that America continues to be, for many, a land of 'dreams'. Dreams which lead to action, to participation, to commitment. Dreams which awaken what is deepest and truest in the life of a people."
Congressional leaders had been hyper-sensitive to decorum before the speech, and the members and guests behaved themselves. They sat in mostly rapt attention, with dozens capturing the moment with smartphone and iPad photos.
While the applause was mostly bipartisan, Democrats were louder and quicker to rise for talk of immigrants, while Republicans sprang up at the reference to preventing abortion. There was none of the grumbling often heard during a State of the Union address.
Francis also called for ending the death penalty, curbing the international arms trade and fighting global poverty. You can read the full text of Francis' speech here.
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