Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Catholics, challenged Congress and by extension the mightiest nation in history on Thursday to break out of its cycle of polarization and paralysis to finally use its power to heal the “open wounds” of a planet torn by hatred, greed, poverty and pollution.
Taking a rostrum never before occupied by the bishop of Rome, the pontiff issued a vigorous call to action on issues largely favored by liberals, including a powerful defense of immigration, an endorsement of environmental legislation, a blistering condemnation of the arms trade and a plea to abolish the death penalty.
In particular, Francis beseeched a nation that generates a disproportionate share of the world’s wealth to not let money drive its decisions at the expense of humanity. “Politics is, instead, an expression of our compelling need to live as one, in order to build as one, the greatest common good,” he told a joint meeting of Congress in an address that cited American icons like Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Of course the Pope did not simply blow kisses to the Conservatives, he also gave them a little something something:
In his speech, Francis also defended religious liberty and the traditional family at a time when the United States has just legalized same-sex marriage and a Kentucky court clerk went to jail rather than issue marriage certificates violating her religious beliefs. He was less explicit in condemning abortion but called for a defense of life at “every stage of development.”
There you go that was some raw meat for the Religious Right and anti-abortion folks.
But dammit that is just not good enough for some people.
Fox News is calling him a false prophet:
Now, here comes Pope Francis to use moral relativism to take the Church in two dangerous directions. The first is an assault on the family, and the second is an assault on the free market -- two favorite political targets of the left.
Damn you can almost feel the butt hurt from here.
The folks at Breitbart felt the sting as well:For years now, Pope Francis’ more conservative defenders have stated that his words have been consistently misinterpreted by the media. There’s truth to that. But there was no way to misinterpret his speech today, delivered in plain English to an adoring left.
Ouch, you know you might want to put a little Desitin on that boys.
Part of their issue might be that Pope Francis included a shout out to Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement and a Christian Socialist, in his speech.
Which by the way caught the notice of somebody else.
In citing Dorothy Day, the pope gave us a wonderful example of the never-ending struggle for justice in our country and the world.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 24, 2015
This joins a previous Sanders tweet sure to piss off those on the Right.
10 Times Bernie Sanders and Pope Francis Sounded Alike: http://t.co/0YBG06Oktm pic.twitter.com/T2ytFewTIA
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 24, 2015
Yeah that sting is not going away anytime soon.And yes I realize that just yesterday I said I would stop talking about the Pope's visit, but seriously how could I NOT comment on this?