Pope Francis spoke before a joint session of the US House of Representatives and Senate today:
September 24, 2015
Pope Francis, a symbol of unity for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, on Thursday became the first pontiff in history to address Congress, speaking to America’s elected representatives about preserving “the dignity of your fellow citizens in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common good.”
On the third day of his first visit to the United States, the pope, himself a son of immigrants, implored America’s leaders to put aside political differences and accept immigrants as their own children.
“Each son or daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility,” the pope said in heavily accented English. “Your own responsibility as members of Congress is to enable this country, by your legislative activity, to grow as a nation.” …
John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), a devout Roman Catholic … and Vice President Biden (D), who is also Catholic, sat behind the pope. In front of him were four justices of the Supreme Court — including three of the six Catholics who currently sit on the nine-member court. …
At least one Catholic congressman, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), has announced he would skip the pope’s appearance, to protest Francis’s advocacy for strong action against global climate change and what Gosar sees as the pope’s failure to speak out “with moral authority against violent Islam.”
“When the pope chooses to act and talk like a leftist politician, then he can expect to be treated like one,” Gosar wrote in a column on Townhall.com. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/pope-francis-to-address-divided-congress-in-washington-on-thursday/2015/09/23/971b0a9e-6260-11e5-b38e-06883aacba64_story.html
September 24, 2015
Francis’s speech…
The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development.
This conviction has led me, from the beginning of my ministry, to advocate at different levels for the global abolition of the death penalty. …
In Laudato Si’, I call for a courageous and responsible effort to “redirect our steps” (ibid., 61), and to avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity.http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/09/24/pope-franciss-speech-to-congress-annotated/
I saw a live portion of the pontiff’s speech on the news today, and heard the ending of it live on the radio when I was driving to pick up some booklets today. He basically came across as concerned, polite, and kindly, but with an agenda.
While the Catholic Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner originally invited the pontiff to come, he is likely not pleased with some of what Pope Francis’ agenda means.
Pope Francis has a view of the economy, immigration, and the environment closer to that of US President Barack Obama, than that of Speaker Boehner. But Speaker Boehner was moved to tears when Pope Francis spoke. The whole chamber burst into thunderous applause when Pope Francis ended his speech with ‘God bless America.’
Of course, the Bible allows for the death penalty, and that is NOT a violation of what is known as the “golden rule.”
Tomorrow, Pope Francis is scheduled to speak before the United Nations. According to the Secretary General of the United Nations, the UN and that Vatican have the same agenda (for some specifics on that, see United Nations: Humankind’s Last Hope or New World Order?). Later this month, the United Nations is expected to formally adopt its ‘New Universal Agenda” which I have also called the ‘New Catholic Agenda’ (for more on that, watch UN’s ‘New Universal Agenda’ is a False Gospel!).
The Bible warns that the world will follow and worship the final Beast power in Revelation 13:4,8. The Bible warns that a false religious leader who looks like a lamb, but has the words of a dragon will encourage this to happen: ... Read full article
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