July 12, 2020 - "Pope Francis Addresses Congress - 2015"

When Pope Francis came to Washington to canonize St. Junipero Serra on September 23, 2015, he was also invited to address a joint meeting of Congress the very next day.  I want to present some of his words delivered to the House and Senate on that historic occasion.  His remarks seem very pertinent for the situation in which we find ourselves today.  Here is what Pope Francis said to the Members of Congress:
 
I am most grateful for your invitation to address this Joint Session of Congress in “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” I would like to think that the reason for this is that I too am a son of this great continent, from which we have all received so much and toward which we share a common responsibility.
 
Each son and daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility.  Your own responsibility as members of Congress is to enable this country, by your legislative activity, to grow as a nation.  You are the face of its people, their representatives.  You are called to defend and preserve the dignity of your fellow citizens in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common good, for this is the chief aim of all politics.  A political society endures when it seeks, as a vocation, to satisfy common needs by stimulating the growth of all its members, especially those in situations of greater vulnerability or risk.  Legislative activity is always based on the care of people.  To this you have been invited, called, and convened by those who elected you.
 
Yours is a work which makes me reflect in two ways on the figure of Moses.  On the one hand, the patriarch and lawgiver of the people of Israel symbolizes the need of peoples to keep alive their sense of unity by means of just legislation.  On the other, the figure of Moses leads us directly to God and thus to the transcendent dignity of the human being.  Moses provides us with a good synthesis of your work:  you are asked to protect, by means of the law, the image and likeness fashioned by God on every human face.
 
Today, I would like not only to address you, but through you the entire people of the United States.  Here, together with their representatives, I would like to take this opportunity to dialogue with the many thousands of men and woman who strive each day to do an honest day’s work, to bring home their daily bread, to save money and –one step at a time – to build a better life for their families.  These are men and women who are not concerned simply with paying their taxes, but in their own quiet way sustain the life of society.  They generate solidarity by their actions, and they create organizations which offer a helping hand to those most in need.

I would also like to enter into dialogue with the many elderly persons who are storehouse of wisdom forged by experience, and who seek in many ways, especially through volunteer work, to share their stories and their insights.  I know that many of them are retired, but still active; they keep working to build up this land.  I also want to dialogue with all those young people who are working to realize their great and noble aspirations, who are not led astray by facile proposals, and who face difficult situations, often as a result of immaturity on the part of many adults.  I wish to dialogue with all of you, and I would like to do so through the historical memory of your people.
 
I will continue sharing Pope Francis’s memorable words to the House and Senate next week.
 
Until then,
Fr. John