Don’t touch the pope, members of Congress warned

WASHINGTON — You can look but you better not touch.

That’s the commandment for members of the House of Representatives and the Senate ahead of Pope Francis’ unprecedented address Thursday morning to a joint meeting of Congress.

Francis will become the first pope to speak in the House chamber, an event that has lawmakers from Roman Catholic House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to freshmen backbenchers downright giddy with excitement.

But House and Senate leaders are imploring lawmakers to do something that’s proven difficult for them: contain themselves.

No hand-shaking, no backslapping and no chitchat with the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics as he makes his way into the chamber.

“Out of respect for the pope’s schedule and the expectation of a timely address, we respectfully request that you assist us by refraining from handshakes and conversations along and down the center aisle during the announced arrival of the Senate, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, U.S. Supreme Court, President’s Cabinet and Pope Francis,” wrote Boehner, R-Ohio, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in a “Dear Colleague” letter to rankand-file lawmakers last week.

The letter ended by reminding recipients that Francis’ address “will be seen around the world and by many of our constituents.”

Keeping their hands to themselves will be an interesting exercise for a Congress where some members camp out for hours — often bringing the day’s work with them - to score coveted aisle seats in order to press the flesh with the president at a State of the Union address or with dignitaries invited to speak to lawmakers.

House and Senate members insist they’ll be on their best behavior when Francis arrives.

Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., who’s legendary for arriving hours early to get an aisle seat for State of the Union speeches, said he’s usually not an early bird for other joint meetings. He said he’ll be happy to sit anywhere in the chamber to see and hear Francis.

“I really don’t care where I sit,” said Engel, who’ll also attend Francis’ Mass on Friday at New York’s Madison Square Garden. “I’m not worrying about shaking his hand or anything like that. I just want to listen to him, and I think it will be a memorable experience for me.”

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, DHouston, another aisle-seeker, said she’ll be thrilled “just to be in a seat of any kind just to be present at that historic moment.”

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said the leaders will have no worries about senators rushing to grab the pope’s hand or snap a quick selfie with him. That’s a House thing, he said.

“You’ve seen them line up there, they’re over there before we get over there,” Grassley said. “We come in later. They don’t bother to shake hands with us.”