The Pope Speaks to Congress / Boehner Resigns | Eastern North Carolina Now

    The Pope Speaks to Congress / Boehner Resigns

    Lest you are going to assume I am saying the Pope forced the Speaker of the House (3rd in line as President), you are jumping to far too much a conclusion about a so-called "liberal." Here is the article showing the full English text of his address:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/transcript-pope-franciss-speech-to-congress/2015/09/24/6d7d7ac8-62bf-11e5-8e9e-dce8a2a2a679_story.html

    When you click on the link and read his carefully worded address; realize that in the South we don't appreciate the full scope of Roman Catholic hierarchy. For Catholics, the Pope is God's human representative on earth. His words take on the powerful dimensions of the Bible in that they are considered INFALLABLE and straight from God.

          •  I was raised Baptist --- then we were told Catholics worship the Virgin Mary over Christ---UNTRUE

          •  We were told they baptize infants into heaven without them having to "walk the aisle" ---UNTRUE

          •  They have the Rite of Confirmation in which a teen attends classes and learns the meaning of the Catechism BEFORE they receive their First Communion

          •  As I had to read the writings in Seminary of the original Church Fathers, Augustine and Aquinas, say the same things as the Baptist Faith and Message Statement!

          •  I met and talked with a Priest who came to our class and that dialogue showed far more similarity between Baptists and Catholics than my arrogant Baptist teachers of my youth shared with us at Ridgecrest, NC

          •  In sum --- I was naïve and young AND the Baptist arrogance misinformed me trying to make us feel we were better and more spiritual than any Roman Catholic.

    The Pope cited 3 great Americans of great and wise influence: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton. I knew all but Dorothy Day from my Seminary education. Dorothy Day was hidden in American history as one who founded the Catholic Worker Movement similar to the Labor Unions. Each of us has heroes who inspire us which the Pope cited. As with Dorothy Day, we do not know them all, but we have met them on the pathway of life and in the streets of Beaufort County!

    When the Pope writes or speaks, it is considered an "inspired word from God." Here are the basic things he brought out before our Senators, House of Representatives, and Supreme Court Justices who chose to attend except for a few recent new Justices. Lest someone accuses the President of not being there, you should realize he was certainly watching from his home and did not attend lest he take away any spotlight from our Congress and the Pope, himself.

    1. "It is my wish that throughout my visit the family should be a recurrent theme. How essential the family has been to the building of this country! And how worthy it remains of our support and encouragement!

    2. A nation can be considered great when it defends liberty as Lincoln did, when it fosters a culture which enables people to "dream" of full rights for all their brothers and sisters, as Martin Luther King sought to do; when it strives for justice and the cause of the oppressed, as Dorothy Day did by her tireless work, the fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows peace in the contemplative style of Thomas Merton.

    3. In particular, I would like to call attention to those family members who are the most vulnerable, the young. For many of them, a future filled with countless possibilities beckons, yet so many others seem disoriented and aimless, trapped in a hopeless maze of violence, abuse and despair. Their problems are our problems.

    4. A good political leader is one who, with the interests of all in mind, seizes the moment in a spirit of openness and pragmatism. A good political leader always opts to initiate processes rather than possessing spaces.

    5. Being at the service of dialogue and peace also means being truly determined to minimize and, in the long term, to end the many armed conflicts throughout our world. Here we have to ask ourselves: Why are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict untold suffering on individuals and society? Sadly, the answer, as we all know, is simply for money: money that is drenched in blood, often innocent blood. In the face of this shameful and culpable silence, it is our duty to confront the problem and to stop the arms trade.

    6. God bless America!

    The Pope is the opposite of Protestants in America whose Mega Church preachers are on ego trips and get paid 6-digit incomes to entertain over instruct from the Bible. They have opted to become involved in power politics which tremendously helped to elect Ronald Reagan and his following Republicans to the important office of President. It mixed politics and religion in ways not seen in American history.

    In my view the Pope already has all the money and power a person could achieve. Instead of living in the splendor of the Papal Residence, he opts to occupy a simple room in Rome. He is a man of the people as clearly shown in his previous work in South America. He admits to being a fellow Immigrant and encourages all to treat strangers to Christian kindness and love.

    He stopped his magnificent motorcade several times --- once exit his vehicle, walk across the street to an infirmed watcher, have a child brought to his arms, and then to give them a personal blessing from God's Representative on Earth. His message touched my heart with its honesty and love.

    The Bible cautions: Speak the Truth in LOVE . . .