What Should Pope Francis Tell Congress?

By The Editors Published on September 23, 2015

Imagine if General George Patton, right after V-E Day, were coming to speak at West Point’s commencement. Expectations were high, the cadets were enthralled, and the instructors were eager to hear him. But the Commandant of the Academy had some unusual ideas — ideas that he and Patton happened to share.

Not many remember it now, but General Patton, besides being a tactical genius and the best fighting general on either side of World War II, was also a firm believer in reincarnation. In fact, it was his childhood faith that he had lived many past lives, and in each of them had been a famous warrior or general, that drove George Patton inexorably toward a military career. Had they known that, the American soldiers who served under Patton — and the French civilians they liberated — might have been grateful for Patton’s unusual belief system. After all, it inspired him to greatness. But it wouldn’t have been what they wanted him to speak about if he addressed them. It would certainly not have been what they needed to hear.

Nor is reincarnation, and Patton’s experiences in past lives and ancient wars, what the U.S. Army cadets either wished or needed to hear about on this spring day in 1945. Instead, they would have benefited from his insights on the Allied invasion on D-Day, the prospects of de-Nazifying Germany, his experience liberating concentration camps, and the shape of the looming threat from our recent ally, Stalin’s Russia. On those issues he could speak with real authority.

But imagine that the Commandant who is reluctantly welcoming Patton is uncomfortable with those subjects. He is an isolationist who doesn’t think that the U.S. should even have entered the Second World War. In fact, he is callous toward Jews, and might even have a soft spot for fascism. But he does agree with Patton about reincarnation! So when he invites the general, he explains at great length and in detail what he hopes that Patton will talk about: Patton’s “experience” serving under Hannibal fighting the Romans, and his “memories” of the Peloponnesian War.

Now return to the present. This Thursday, another historic speech will take place: Pope Francis will speak to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, the first pontiff ever to do so. Our Commander-in-Chief is hoping that Pope Francis will neglect not just his vocation as a preacher of the Gospel and Shepherd of over a billion souls, but also the most urgent moral and political questions on which he is an unquestioned authority:

  • The sanctity of unborn life, and its callous destruction by Planned Parenthood for profit through organ-trafficking — subsidized to the tune of $500 million per year by U.S. taxpayers;
  • The reality of marriage between a man and woman;
  • The threat to religious liberty and the institution of marriage posed by a U.S. Supreme Court decision;
  • The cleansing of Christians throughout the world by militant Islam.

Instead, the Democrats hope that the pope will speak on subjects where he has no special expertise or religious authority, but on which his views hew closer to theirs:

  • The details of economics and the means of creating opportunities for poor people;
  • Immigration policy, and the wisest criteria for admitting new Americans while preserving the common good;
  • The sensitivity of the climate to carbon dioxide, and the vexed question of how (and whether) it’s possible to abandon carbon-based fuels.

Like the Commandant in our fantasy scenario, our Commander-in-Chief hopes that the guest speaker will stick to the ground which they have in common, avoiding the much more important areas on which he actually is an authority, where they profoundly disagree. Democrats haven’t been shy about saying so, in fact sending the pope a letter intended to steer his remarks in their own direction.

We would like to think that General Patton would have rejected such a Commandant’s advice, and spoken to the profound moral evil which he had been instrumental in fighting, and about which he had vast knowledge and real authority. Likewise, we hope that Pope Francis will resist the flattering embrace of President Obama and his compliant pro-choice party.

There is much that Pope Francis could say to Congress and to us. Given the political setting, it’s probably too much to hope that he will quite literally preach the Gospel or avoid specifics and speak more generally about the moral principles that should inform all our politics. Still, he could speak of the life of St. Junipero Serra, who served the poor not through some Leviathan state nor in the name of secular ideologies. Instead that saint poured out his life building up free institutions of civil society, in the service of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Such institutions today (such as the Little Sisters of the Poor) face grave threats to their existence coming from Obama’s federal government, unless they are willing to provide abortion pills.

One of the reasons for Pope Francis’ visit is to attend the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. To Congress, he could eloquently address the crucial role that natural marriage plays in the well-being of children, emphasizing the unique nature of lifelong Christian wedlock, lived out in obedience to Christ. He could remind us all that the family is indeed the “domestic church.”

There is much that Pope Francis, as the leader of the world’s largest Christian church, could tell us that we need to hear. There is much that many Americans, including members of Congress, need to hear that they don’t want to hear. Let us hope that he chooses to do that, to shun the pre-fabricated message that the powerful anti-Christian forces dominating our country and culture are hoping to hear instead.

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