In Washington, Pope Francis wears a political hat

From his very first comments on the White House lawn, it was clear: Pope Francis's visit to the United States would be as much about politics as religion. 

With President Barack Obama sitting at his side, Francis began his speech by invoking the topic of immigration. "As the son of an immigrant family, I am happy to be a guest in this country, which was largely built by such families,” the pope said. It was a quick move by the pontiff into some contentious political territory not only in the United States, but in Europe as well. 

The Catholic Church has long been an advocate for comprehensive US immigration reform. This is in line with how the pope reads the Gospel. And it makes for good common sense, because Latin Americans have become the fastest-growing group of American Catholics. Besides that, the message dovetails with Pope Francis’s call for his Church to focus on serving the poorest and most marginalized peoples around the world.

Yes, the Holy Father is the vicar of Jesus Christ for some 70 million American Catholics. And even for many others outside of the Catholic faith in this country, Francis is seen as a global religious and moral leader with enormous credibility.

But Francis is also a worldly operator who seems fearless about stepping into the belly of the American political beast and raising some divisive issues in front of his hosts.

In preparation for his first-ever trip to the US (and only the fourth by any pope), Francis spent the summer practicing English. For the American audience who listened to his short speech from the White House lawn on Wednesday morning, this was the first time they had heard the pope speaking in their native language.

Most of Pope Francis’s public remarks during his US visit this week will be in his own native tongue of Spanish. There is a practical reason for that. Francis is not the strongest English speaker. But there’s a political dimension here too.

The pontiff will have the chance to put his English skills to the test on Thursday morning, when he addresses a joint session of Congress. This will be the first time any head of the Catholic Church delivers a formal speech to US legislators on Capitol Hill.

“The very idea that the Roman Catholic pope, head of the Vatican State, can address Congress would have shocked most Americans only 30 years ago,” writes Massimo Faggioli, an expert on Catholic theology at Saint Thomas University in Minnesota.  

“It was only in 1984 that the US and the Vatican established diplomatic relations. Ronald Reagan did that. He would have been surprised to witness [Pope Francis] the successor of the anti-communist Pope John Paul II, accepting a hammer and sickle crucifix during his trip to Bolivia earlier this year.”

If the pope’s remarks at the White House were any indication, he is likely to hit the issue of climate change hard when he speaks to Congress. Standing next to the US president, Francis lauded Obama for “proposing an initiative for reducing air pollution.”

“Accepting the urgency, it seems clear to me also that climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation. When it comes to the care of our common home, we are living at a critical moment of history,” Francis said.

The pope went on to evoke the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King in the context of climate change. “We can say that we have defaulted on a promissory note and now is the time to honor it,” the pope told an audience of more than 10,000 people on the White House lawn.

Francis’s message on climate will be unconvincing to many members of Congress, where most Republicans reject the notion that greenhouse gas emissions are warming the earth’s temperature and harming the environment. One GOP Congressman, who is also Roman Catholic, says he will skip Francis’s address on Thursday over the issue.  

There are several hot-button issues where Barack Obama and Pope Fancis would disagree too. Abortion, same-sex marriage, and women’s rights are all things where the two men fail to see eye-to-eye. But the president hailed Francis as a great moral leader and Obama seemed to relish the experience of standing on stage with the head of the Catholic Church.

Obama thanked the pope for his leadership on promoting peace, interfaith dialogue, and religious liberty. The president gave Francis credit for helping put US-Cuban relations on a new course. And Obama praised the pope for his efforts on climate change.

“Holy Father, you remind us that we have a sacred obligation to protect our planet — God’s magnificent gift to us,” he said. “We support your call to all world leaders to support the communities most vulnerable to a changing climate and to come together to preserve our precious world for future generations.”