Pope Francis brings strong message to Congress
Francis calls on Congress to abolish death penalty, fight global warming
Pope Francis plunged into the melting pot of New York after reminding the United States of its immigrant origins in the first papal speech before Congress on Thursday.
Over an intense 40 hours set to start with a sunset prayer service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, he will address world leaders at the United Nations, participate in an interfaith service at the Sept. 11 memorial museum and celebrate Mass at Madison Square Garden.
Thousands of people lined the streets leading to the recently spruced up cathedral to greet the popular pontiff as his motorcade slowly drove by and he gestured toward them from his popemobile. They cheered, waved flags and adoringly chanted his name.
The pope, who’s making his first trip to the U. S., planned to visit a school on Friday and take a processional drive through Central Park.
In Washington earlier Thursday, the Pope had waded into bitter disputes while speaking to Congress, entreating the nation to share its immense wealth with those less fortunate.
He urged Congress and the nation to abolish the death penalty, fight global warming and embrace immigrants.
Lawmakers gave rousing ovations to the leader of the world’s Catholics, despite obvious disagreements over some of his pleas.
After he addressed Congress, the first pontiff to do so, he underscored his message by travelling directly to a downtown Washington church, where he mingled with needy and homeless people, blessed their noontime meal and walked among them while they ate.
Soon after, he headed by plane to New York, second stop on his three- city first visit to the U. S. After arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, he boarded a helicopter to Manhattan, where the cathedral is located.
Two sisters, 89- year- old Anna Ambrosino and 92- year- old Connie Angiolillo, waited in their wheelchairs for Francis to arrive. Angiolillo, citing her age, said this was her only chance to see him: “Next time I see the Pope,” she said, “it will be in heaven.”
The Pope addresses the UN on Friday and wraps up his visit this weekend in Philadelphia, where he speaks in front of Independence Hall and celebrates Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
At the Capitol, the remarkable sight of the Pope speaking in the House chamber seemed to delight lawmakers of all persuasions, though he offered an agenda more to Democrats’ liking.
Besides his focus on climate change and immigration, he denounced arms sales and seemed to allude approvingly to the Iran nuclear deal and recent actions by President Barack Obama’s administration to open relations with Cuba, done with his urging.
Republicans, too, heard something to like in his references to the sanctity of life and family relations, reminders that even the more open Catholic Church over which Francis presides still condemns abortion and gay marriage.
For all the spectacle, it seemed unlikely the Pope’s visit would break congressional inertia on the issues dear to him, with no action in sight from the Republican majority on global warming or immigration.
But Francis, in his historic speech, seemed determined to remind the U. S. of its foundations as a country made up of foreigners, addressing the chamber and the American people beyond in personal terms as a son of immigrants to “this great continent.”
“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 neighbours and everything around us,” he said. “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.”
Francis, in deliberate and accented English, noted that many lawmakers descended from immigrants and the U. S. was founded by foreigners “who came to this land to pursue their dream of building a future in freedom.”