Epigraph:

Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:7-9)

Pope speaking in US Congress

Source: BBC

Pope Francis has told the US Congress that the US must see migrants as “persons” and not as “numbers”.

Speaking to a rare joint session, the Pope said immigrants should be treated “with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated”.

In the same address, the pontiff renewed his call for ending the death penalty, and for better treatment of the poor and disadvantaged.

He was warmly greeted by 500 lawmakers, justices and officials.

After entering the chamber to thunderous applause, he said the world is facing a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since World War Two, and noted the immense challenges that the crisis presents.

But he drew particular attention to the movement of migrants from Central America to the United States in search of a better life – a reference which drew a standing ovation.

“We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation,” he said.

For years, hopes of wide-reaching immigration reform have been dashed by political disagreements in Washington.

And President Barack Obama’s attempt to allow 11 million undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation has been stalled by a legal challenge.

Also in the speech:

• the world must be attentive to “fundamentalism, whether religious or of any other kind”
• on economic inequality, he said “even in the developed world, the effects of unjust structure and actions are all too apparent”
• renewed calls for “the global abolition of the death penalty” saying criminals should be rehabilitated
• he reaffirmed his “esteem and appreciation” to the indigenous people of the Americas who faced “turbulent and violent” contacts with colonising powers
• the “very basis of marriage and the family” is being called into question, in a thinly veiled warning about same-sex marriage
• he called on Congress to be inspired by Moses and promote unity through “just legislation”

Analysis: Caroline Wyatt, BBC religious affairs correspondent

It was impossible from this speech to categorise the Pope as left or right, as so many have sought to before he arrived.

There was something for everyone, Democrat and Republican alike, as he called on America to put an end to the death penalty – a cause for the left – and defended all life as sacred, a rallying call for the anti-abortion right.

That was a sentiment greeted with loud cheers by Republicans opposing laws on family planning that currently threaten to gridlock the US government.

Above all, Pope Francis in the US has challenged his audiences to think, and to cast aside ideological divisions in favour of unity and mercy – to reflect on how to help the poor and those without.

This is a Pope that all sides are keen to claim as their own, but he remains hard to pigeonhole, as he went on to eat a meal not with the political elite but with the poor and the homeless who are ever present here, in the capital of the world’s richest nation.

Then, he left in his small car that makes a big point about the environment, showing that sometimes, actions can speak louder than words.

Read further

Suggested reading

Two Hundred Verses about Compassionate Living in the Quran

We Will be Judged by Our Compassion and Deeds and Not Our Dogma

A Message of Compassion and Love from the Holy Bible

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