In speech to Congress, Pope Francis urges action on immigration, climate

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[h=4]In speech to Congress, Pope Francis urges action on immigration, climate[/h]In the first-ever papal address to a joint meeting of Congress, Pope Francis on Thursday called on Americans to embrace immigrants from Latin America and around the world.

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Pope Francis urged Congress to treat refugees not as number, but as people, during his address to a joint session. VPC


Pope Francis addresses a joint meeting of Congress on Sept. 24, 2015 from the House chamber.(Photo: Andrew P. Scott, USA TODAY)


WASHINGTON —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>In the first-ever papal address to a joint meeting of Congress, Pope Francis on Thursday called on Americans to embrace<span style="color: Red;">*</span>immigrants from Latin America and around the world.
“Our world is facing a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since the second World War,” the pope said, including<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"thousands of persons (who) are led to travel north in search of a better life.
“We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their<span style="color: Red;">*</span>stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation," Francis said in a 45-minute speech. "To respond in a way which is always humane, just and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>fraternal. We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays: to discard whatever proves troublesome."
Speaking slowly in English before a packed House chamber including the assembled members of Congress and hundreds of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>dignitaries and reporters, the Argentine pope said, "We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>because most of us once were foreigners."
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The pope's immigration plea comes in the middle of a fierce debate in American politics about illegal immigration, fueled in part by Donald Trump's surprisingly strong campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Trump launched his campaign with a tirade against Mexico for sending "rapists" across the border<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and has promised that if elected he will build an impenetrable fence across the U.S. Mexico border.
Conservatives in Congress are also looking for ways to use upcoming federal spending bills block President Obama's executive orders granting work permits and temporary legal status to some undocumented<span style="color: Red;">*</span>immigrants.
A host of Republican presidential candidates attended the speech, which lasted about 45 minutes, including<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Sens.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Lindsey Graham and,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in the visitors' gallery, Ben Carson and Chris Christie. Democratic candidate and Sen. Bernie Sanders was also on the floor.
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As he did Wednesday at his appearance with<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Obama, the pope again called for action to combat climate change.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Quoting from his May encyclical on the environment, Francis told Congress, "I call for a courageous and responsible effort<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to 'redirect our steps,' and to avert the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>I am convinced that we can make a difference and I have no doubt that the United States —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and this Congress —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>have an important role to play."
Republicans have raised strong objections to Obama's plan to cut carbon emissions from power plants, arguing that it will<span style="color: Red;">*</span>damage the economy without making any meaningful<span style="color: Red;">*</span>improvement in the environment.
The pope did provide some points that would satisfy conservatives. He said the Golden Rule also "reminds us of our<span style="color: Red;">*</span>responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development," but but then he pivoted immediately to a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>call for abolition of the death penalty, not a longer discourse on abortion.
He warned against the erosion of the family<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and seemed to be voicing concern about gay marriage. "I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without," Francis said. "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."
But the pope did not make any specific appeal on the topic of marriage<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and also cautioned against fundamentalism. "We must be especially attentive to every type of fundamentalism, whether religious or of any other kind. A delicate balance is required to combat violence perpetrated in the name of a religion, an ideology or an economic system, while also<span style="color: Red;">*</span>safeguarding religious freedom, intellectual freedom and individual freedoms. But there is another temptation which we must especially guard against: the simplistic reductionism which sees only good or evil; or, if you will, the righteous and sinners."
After the speech, the pope stepped onto a balcony of the capitol and gave a brief blessing to a huge crowd gathered on the lawn who had heard the speech via video. The pope asked the crowd to pray for him, and invited non-believers to "send good wishes my way."<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who has said he has dreamed of this moment for two decades, stood beside the pope and pulled a handkerchief from his jacket pocket to wipe away his tears.
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The speaker sat next to Vice President Biden during the speech.
Lawmakers largely avoided the partisan ovations<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— one side standing, the other clapping politely or sitting on their hands<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— that frequently mark presidential State of the Union addresses. For the pope, when one side stood, the other generally rose as well. Republican were first to their feet when the pope raised concerns about the family; Democrats were first when he raised climate change.
Lawmakers were not reading text of the speech, and did not appear to be primed for what the pope was going to say.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y. let out a whoop heard throughout the chamber<span style="color: Red;">*</span>when the pope said the death penalty should be abolished.
Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama, sitting next to Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, brightened when he mentioned the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march 50 years ago. Sewell, who is from Selma, and Lewis, one of the African-American marchers beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge at the start of the march, nodded and smiled. As the pope lauded Dr. Martin Luther King’s “dream of full civil and political rights for African-Americans,” Sewell and others patted Lewis on the back, and Lewis put his hand over his heart.
“That dream continues to inspire us all,” Pope Francis said.
It was the first standing ovation of the speech, led by Lewis.
On the lawn outside,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Marc Vandiver, 67, trekked from Greenwood, Ind., to catch a glimpse of the pope.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>A self described conservative who's "not a big climate change person," the retiree doesn't believe Francis should be dabbling in environmental policy. "I don't think personally (he) should be with those matters, he said. The pope' swords should be "more directed to the religious and and the laws of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span> church."
Melinda Peter, 39, traveled with her 6-year-old daughter from 8 miles above the Arctic Circle to hold up a sign on the Capitol lawn proclaiming "Alaskan natives (heart) Pope Francis. "
"We're Episcopal but we like this pope because we know he's for indigenous people," she said.
After the speech, Congress turned to a debate over a looming government shutdown, creating an immediate opportunity to begin quoting the pope in political argument.
Contributing: Mary Troyan, Deirdre Shegreen, Ledyard King, Maureen Groppe, Bill Theobald.
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