UNITED STATES
Crux
By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor September 26, 2015
PHILADELPHIA – To be sure, Pope Francis did not come to the United States primarily to deliver a political message but to act as a pastor, encouraging Catholics to hold on to their faith and to put it into action. Like a mantra, he has told them over and over, “Go forth!”
Equally surely, however, politics has been part of the mix.
From his remarks on the South Lawn of the White House on Wednesday to his addresses to a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday and the United Nations on Friday, the pope has presented a bushel basket full of policy concerns, ranging from immigration and climate change to arms trafficking and the death penalty.
Francis has already changed the political landscape by apparently giving House Speaker John Boehner, second in the order of succession to the presidency, the interior peace to decide to resign.
As the trip enters the final stretch this weekend in Philadelphia, however, it’s possible that the most important long-term political subtext is still to come.
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