Pope Francis tackles subjects that divide America in historic speech to Congress

Pope Francis tackles subjects that divide America in historic speech to Congress
By Euronews
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button
Copy/paste the article video embed link below:Copy to clipboardCopied

Pope Francis, in the historic first address to the US Congress by the leader of the Roman Catholic church, ranged far and wide covering a number of

ADVERTISEMENT

Pope Francis, in the historic first address to the US Congress by the leader of the Roman Catholic church, ranged far and wide covering a number of hot-button issues including climate change, the death penalty, the arms trade, and marriage and the family.

He reminded those who want to put up border fences that America a nation built by immigrants.

“We, the people of this continent, are not fearfull of foreigners, because most of us were once foreigners,” he said. “Building a nation calls us to recognize that we must constantly relate to others, rejecting a mindset of hostility in order to adopt one of reciprocal subsidiarity.”

Francis concluded to a standing ovation, having directly addressed a number of issues that divide Americans and which concern both conservatives and liberals.

Following the speech Francis went to greet the large crowd that had gathered outside Congress and waved to them from a balcony. He then departed to meet homeless people, with New York the next stop on his itinerary.

However several commentators noted that despite the speech’s strong content, the message may have been dulled by Francis’s slow and heavily.accented English.

Share this articleComments

You might also like

Pope raises hot topics during Washington visit

Pope Francis begins visit to USA with call for environmental action

Joe Biden delivers barnstorming State of the Union address