Pope Francis Goes to Washington
I was both happy and sad to hear the Pope's comments to the United States Congress today. I was happy to know that the Pope made a great representation of himself, the Roman Catholic Church, and displayed a great deal of passion and compassion for the social ills that face our world. While I am not Roman Catholic, Pope Francis has truly caught my ears over the last few years with his amazing ability to just speak and not pontificate. And while we may have some theological differences, I feel his representation of the Christian faith is a strong and noble one.
What saddened me was hearing Congress applaud him.
Not that that in and of itself is a bad thing, but they treated him the same way they treat the president - applaud when he sounds like he is speaking in support of something you are for or that you feel represents your side. When the Pope spoke, different sides of the aisle applauded at different times. Always applause, but some were heartier on one side than the other from time to time. Especially when it sounded like he was pro-life, which I am pretty sure he is. Conservatives went nuts. But then he started talking about the death penalty, not abortion, and the applause fell off somewhat.
I fear that as historic as the speech was, his words did not change hearts. Instead they merely went to reinforce the ideologies of the parties. "Hey the Pope is on our side!" "No, no, didn't you hear? He is on our side!" The ones we wish would listen are never going to hear.
And to top it off, after the speech, the reporters pounced on the members of Congress as they left and lo and behold what did they do? Spin-doctored the POPE! Instead of responding to what he said, they all took turns proof-texting his speech to articulate how he said what they (depending on their party) already believed. When he spoke of immigration, those opposed could say, "Well, he didn't say not to build fences and walls and to up security." When he spoke of the environment, the opposed could say, "We all want to take care of the environment. He didn't talk about the myth of global warming." The Pope said everything to everyone in the room, and I don't think many people heard him at all.
Of course the Pope is in good company. One need only start to read the words of Jesus to find people starting to explain what Jesus really meant. Especially if they don't want to hear what he has to say since it might call for them to have to reconsider, evaluate, think, or respond. God bless the Pope. He walked among the sinners who believe themselves righteous. There is no more difficult crowd to which to speak.
What saddened me was hearing Congress applaud him.
Not that that in and of itself is a bad thing, but they treated him the same way they treat the president - applaud when he sounds like he is speaking in support of something you are for or that you feel represents your side. When the Pope spoke, different sides of the aisle applauded at different times. Always applause, but some were heartier on one side than the other from time to time. Especially when it sounded like he was pro-life, which I am pretty sure he is. Conservatives went nuts. But then he started talking about the death penalty, not abortion, and the applause fell off somewhat.
I fear that as historic as the speech was, his words did not change hearts. Instead they merely went to reinforce the ideologies of the parties. "Hey the Pope is on our side!" "No, no, didn't you hear? He is on our side!" The ones we wish would listen are never going to hear.
And to top it off, after the speech, the reporters pounced on the members of Congress as they left and lo and behold what did they do? Spin-doctored the POPE! Instead of responding to what he said, they all took turns proof-texting his speech to articulate how he said what they (depending on their party) already believed. When he spoke of immigration, those opposed could say, "Well, he didn't say not to build fences and walls and to up security." When he spoke of the environment, the opposed could say, "We all want to take care of the environment. He didn't talk about the myth of global warming." The Pope said everything to everyone in the room, and I don't think many people heard him at all.
Of course the Pope is in good company. One need only start to read the words of Jesus to find people starting to explain what Jesus really meant. Especially if they don't want to hear what he has to say since it might call for them to have to reconsider, evaluate, think, or respond. God bless the Pope. He walked among the sinners who believe themselves righteous. There is no more difficult crowd to which to speak.
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