Pope Francis In America

Welcome to today's special post about Jorge Mario Bergoglio, more commonly known as Pope Francis, who is currently visiting the United States. I am sharing some pictures today that were taken by my cousin, who was able to see Pope Francis in Washington. Thank you, Alice!

 Photo credit: A. Ziegler

Photo credit: A. Ziegler 
 

Photo credit: A. Ziegler

In the Pope's address to a joint session of Congress today, the first Latin-American Pope in history said many things, including:

1. He said he was "grateful" for his invitation to address Congress.
2. He said that the work that lawmakers do is similar to Moses. 
3. Throughout history, Americans have helped to make sure that the future is better for others than it was for them. 
4. Older people are very wise. 
5. There's not a single religion which cannot be affected by the reaches of extremism. 
6. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dreams continue to inspire people to this day. 
7. Family is a key part of what makes our country so unique-that you can come to raise your family here. 
8. Climate change NEEDS to be helped right now. We have to act. 
9. The U.S. should not be afraid of people who come from other countries. 
10. Immigrants and refugees are people too 
11. The Golden Rule applies to all human beings. 
12. He said that there should be no death penalty because it is not humane. 
13. He wants war/conflicts with weapons to stop because they are destructive to humanity. 
14. Congress needs to stop acting so unwelcoming to immigrants.

Much of what Pope Francis, who ate lunch with the homeless both yesterday and today, said agreed more with Democrats, in my view. 

For example, he sounded more like devout Catholic Vice President Joe Biden, who supports religious freedom, rather than Republicans such as Speaker of The House John Boehner, also a devoted Catholic, who both cried and rolled his eyes during the Pope's speech. I feel people like Speaker Boehner want to impose his religious beliefs and also put up a wall to keep immigrants out of the country. Why keep immigrants out and deport them, I ask, when we are all descendants of immigrants?

 It just doesn't make any sense, does it?

Thank you for tuning in to the special School Stories (Where School Is ALWAYS In Session) post about Pope Francis's visit to Congress.