Below is the entire text of the pope's speech to the United States Congress [1], [2]; in brackets are this blogger's annotations, highlighting this pope's ideals that are inconsistent with his admonishments and therefore with this speech this pope had reached the heights of hypocrisy:
Mr. Vice-President, Mr. Speaker, Honorable Members of Congress, Dear Friends,
I am most grateful for your invitation to address this Joint Session of Congress in “the land of the free and the home of the brave”. I would like to think that the reason for this is that I too am a son of this great continent, from which we have all received so much and toward which we share a common responsibility.
[Bravery for a pope means being a conduit for the Son of God (to Whom he owes his the entire purpose and meaning of his existence) so that the focus is on the words and miracles of Christ and not upon himself. For this pope to bring attention to himself "as a son of this great continent" in Paragraph 1 above is to set aside Christ, to elevate himself, placing the Prince of Peace in his shadow to become a slave of Satan whose objective is to conquer the Kingdom of God and rise above it.] [3]
Each son or daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility. Your own responsibility as members of Congress is to enable this country, by your legislative activity, to grow as a nation. You are the face of its people, their representatives. You are called to defend and preserve the dignity of your fellow citizens in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common good, for this is the chief aim of all politics. A political society endures when it seeks, as a vocation, to satisfy common needs by stimulating the growth of all its members, especially those in situations of greater vulnerability or risk. Legislative activity is always based on care for the people. To this you have been invited, called and convened by those who elected you.
Yours is a work which makes me reflect in two ways on the figure of Moses. On the one hand, the patriarch and lawgiver of the people of Israel symbolizes the need of peoples to keep alive their sense of unity by means of just legislation. On the other, the figure of Moses leads us directly to God and thus to the transcendent dignity of the human being. Moses provides us with a good synthesis of your work: you are asked to protect, by means of the law, the image and likeness fashioned by God on every human face.
[
Paragraphs 14 & 15 below ought to follow the above Paragraph 3. In Paragraphs 14 & 15, this politician-pope interjected himself into the debate regarding illegal immigrants in the United States, saying that "thousands of persons are led to travel north in search of a better life for themselves and for their loved ones, in search for greater opportunities. Is this not what we want for our own children?" Then he ended by quoting the Gospel of Matthew: "'Do to others as you would have them done unto you.'" Having said what he said, this pope had ascended to the peak of hypocrisy. While Moses would likely be sympathetic to those traveling to other places in search for better economic opportunities, would he not likely be just as firm on maintaining a certain societal decorum "by means of just legislation"? Illegal immigrants are by definition migrants who have entered another country illegally even though there are various legal channels by which they could immigrate legally. Is the dignity of the human beings only available in certain geographic locations on earth and not in others? Has God taken up residences only in the United States and parts of the European Union and nowhere else? Could the pope not apply for residency in countries with large outflows of migrants (remember he named himself after San Francesco d'Assisi who had in his later life lived without much of life's comforts) and show people that he can live with dignity anywhere for God is everywhere, unless he does not believe in God. Furthermore, by quoting the Gospel of Matthew that one should do to others as one would have others done unto oneself, he implied that anyone who is against illegal immigration ought to be prepared to suffer the same consequences as illegal aliens, who are under threat of being returned to their countries of origin in order that they may have the opportunity to re-enter legally as law-abiding citizens of the world. This pope should ask himself these two questions: 1. What would he do if 50,000 poor and jobless migrants, among them the elderly, the pregnant, the children, the infants, the mentally-ill, the physically-challenged, the illiterate, the atheists, the Satanists, the belligerent and non-law abiding, crowd into Vatican City State, a city-state within Rome in Italy with its own government, its own bank, post office and stamps, and occupy places where they can find space, in the Vatican gardens, inside the Apostolic Palace, inside the Vatican Museum, inside the Sistine Chapel and inside St. Peter's Basilica expecting to be fed when hungry and be given medical attention when sick? 2. Has the Vatican under this pope's papacy ever granted residence to an illegal immigrant, such as an itinerant who had overstayed his welcome in the Sistine Chapel or the Vatican Museum? Until his actions are consistent with his ideals, this hypocrite-pope ought to have pope runner-up
Cardinal Angelo Scola ask him to leave Vatican City State and repatriate back to Argentina in accordance with the Gospel of Matthew he quoted in Paragraph 15 below.]
Today I would like not only to address you, but through you the entire people of the United States. Here, together with their representatives, I would like to take this opportunity to dialogue with the many thousands of men and women who strive each day to do an honest day’s work, to bring home their daily bread, to save money and –one step at a time – to build a better life for their families. These are men and women who are not concerned simply with paying their taxes, but in their own quiet way sustain the life of society. They generate solidarity by their actions, and they create organizations which offer a helping hand to those most in need.
[This pope failed to mention in Paragraph 4 above that these same men and women who "create organizations which offer a helping hand to those most in need" are very much concerned with taxes, not the payment but the deduction of taxes, by forming non-profit, tax-exempt organizations under the
United States Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c) (3), so that contributors can reduce their tax payments on their annual tax returns by a percentage that varies. Their actions are not as unconditionally charitable as the pope has described. To omit this detail is to mislead.]
I would also like to enter into dialogue with the many elderly persons who are a storehouse of wisdom forged by experience, and who seek in many ways, especially through volunteer work, to share their stories and their insights. I know that many of them are retired, but still active; they keep working to build up this land. I also want to dialogue with all those young people who are working to realize their great and noble aspirations, who are not led astray by facile proposals, and who face difficult situations, often as a result of immaturity on the part of many adults. I wish to dialogue with all of you, and I would like to do so through the historical memory of your people.
[To "enter into dialog" is not to enter into prayer. Dialog is political; prayer is holy. This pope is not seeking to bring prayer into the hearts and minds of these people he wished to dialog with in Paragraph 5 above but to play politics with them.]
My visit takes place at a time when men and women of good will are marking the anniversaries of several great Americans. The complexities of history and the reality of human weakness notwithstanding, these men and women, for all their many differences and limitations, were able by hard work and self-sacrifice – some at the cost of their lives – to build a better future. They shaped fundamental values which will endure forever in the spirit of the American people. A people with this spirit can live through many crises, tensions and conflicts, while always finding the resources to move forward, and to do so with dignity. These men and women offer us a way of seeing and interpreting reality. In honoring their memory, we are inspired, even amid conflicts, and in the here and now of each day, to draw upon our deepest cultural reserves.
[Paragraph 6 above reads like it could have been written by an atheist, in particular these words: "A people with this spirit can live through many crises, tensions and conflicts, while always finding the resources to move forward, and to do so with dignity." This pope missed mentioning God. Apparently the human spirit alone is enough to "live through many crises, tensions and conflicts".]
I would like to mention four of these Americans: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. This year marks the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the guardian of liberty, who labored tirelessly that “this nation, under God, [might] have a new birth of freedom”. Building a future of freedom requires love of the common good and cooperation in a spirit of subsidiarity and solidarity.
All of us are quite aware of, and deeply worried by, the disturbing social and political situation of the world today. Our world is increasingly a place of violent conflict, hatred and brutal atrocities, committed even in the name of God and of religion. We know that no religion is immune from forms of individual delusion or ideological extremism. This means that we must be especially attentive to every type of fundamentalism, whether religious or of any other kind. A delicate balance is required to combat violence perpetrated in the name of a religion, an ideology or an economic system, while also safeguarding religious freedom, intellectual freedom and individual freedoms. But there is another temptation which we must especially guard against: the simplistic reductionism which sees only good or evil; or, if you will, the righteous and sinners. The contemporary world, with its open wounds which affect so many of our brothers and sisters, demands that we confront every form of polarization which would divide it into these two camps. We know that in the attempt to be freed of the enemy without, we can be tempted to feed the enemy within. To imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants and murderers is the best way to take their place. That is something which you, as a people, reject.
[This blogger's understanding of English is being challenged in Paragraph 8 above. This pope said: "But there is another temptation which we must especially guard against: the simplistic reductionism which sees only good or evil; or if you will, the righteous and sinners." What? Was Jesus Christ not about showing mankind the clear difference between good and evil? Did He not make it simple enough for people to understand Him, representing all that is good? This pope seemed to ask people to blur the line between good and evil, that "[t]his contemporary world...demands that we confront every form of polarization which would divide it into these two camps", to carve out a space where compromises can be reached, where what is right must be twisted in a manner to accommodate what is wrong and what is deviant is to be deemed innocuous. Pope Benedict XVI had labeled this phenomenon "the Dictatorship of Relativisim" which "
does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires" and cautioned people against it. This pope, however, seemed to embrace it, to want to substitute Satan's "relative truths" in the place of God's Truth.]
Our response must instead be one of hope and healing, of peace and justice. We are asked to summon the courage and the intelligence to resolve today’s many geopolitical and economic crises. Even in the developed world, the effects of unjust structures and actions are all too apparent. Our efforts must aim at restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments, and thus promoting the well-being of individuals and of peoples. We must move forward together, as one, in a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity, cooperating generously for the common good.
[Common good in Paragraph 9 above is not True good. Common good is defined by man; True good is established by God. True good required Adam and Eve to obey God and stay away from the Forbidden Fruit, but it was the "Common good", the kind of twisted good that is based on Satan's reasoning, that exists solely for the satisfaction of one's own ego and desires (paraphrasing Pope Benedict XVI's definition of "
dictatorship of relativism") that Adam and Eve followed.]
The challenges facing us today call for a renewal of that spirit of cooperation, which has accomplished so much good throughout the history of the United States. The complexity, the gravity and the urgency of these challenges demand that we pool our resources and talents, and resolve to support one another, with respect for our differences and our convictions of conscience.
[This pope demanded in Paragraph 10 above hat "we pool our resources and talents..." When had this pope sold any of Vatican City's real estate and priceless artworks to support those in need? He is all talk and no action.]
In this land, the various religious denominations have greatly contributed to building and strengthening society. It is important that today, as in the past, the voice of faith continue to be heard, for it is a voice of fraternity and love, which tries to bring out the best in each person and in each society. Such cooperation is a powerful resource in the battle to eliminate new global forms of slavery, born of grave injustices which can be overcome only through new policies and new forms of social consensus.
[Finally, a paragraph that sounds good (Paragraph 11 above).]
Here I think of the political history of the United States, where democracy is deeply rooted in the mind of the American people. All political activity must serve and promote the good of the human person and be based on respect for his or her dignity. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” (Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776). If politics must truly be at the service of the human person, it follows that it cannot be a slave to the economy and finance. Politics is, instead, an expression of our compelling need to live as one, in order to build as one the greatest common good: that of a community which sacrifices particular interests in order to share, in justice and peace, its goods, its interests, its social life. I do not underestimate the difficulty that this involves, but I encourage you in this effort.
[Not even Jesus Who sacrificed Himself solved the ills of society and this pope was asking politicians to do what in Paragraph 12 above?]
Here too I think of the march which Martin Luther King led from Selma to Montgomery fifty years ago as part of the campaign to fulfill his “dream” of full civil and political rights for African Americans. That dream continues to inspire us all. I am happy that America continues to be, for many, a land of “dreams”. Dreams which lead to action, to participation, to commitment. Dreams which awaken what is deepest and truest in the life of a people.
[Paragraph 13 above documents that this pope is continually inspired by a man's dream of civil and political rights. For Pope Benedict XVI, it was about love, for
God is love.]
In recent centuries, millions of people came to this land to pursue their dream of building a future in freedom. We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners, because most of us were once foreigners. I say this to you as the son of immigrants, knowing that so many of you are also descended from immigrants. Tragically, the rights of those who were here long before us were not always respected. For those peoples and their nations, from the heart of American democracy, I wish to reaffirm my highest esteem and appreciation. Those first contacts were often turbulent and violent, but it is difficult to judge the past by the criteria of the present. Nonetheless, when the stranger in our midst appeals to us, we must not repeat the sins and the errors of the past. We must resolve now to live as nobly and as justly as possible, as we educate new generations not to turn their back on our “neighbors” and everything around us. 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, in a constant effort to do our best. I am confident that we can do this.
Our world is facing a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Second World War. This presents us with great challenges and many hard decisions. On this continent, too, thousands of persons are led to travel north in search of a better life for themselves and for their loved ones, in search of greater opportunities. Is this not what we want for our own children? 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. To respond in a way which is always humane, just and fraternal. We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays: to discard whatever proves troublesome. Let us remember the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Mt 7:12).
[
Paragraphs 14 & 15 above were referred to in the annotation under Paragraph 3. In addition to the comment made, this pope disingenuously lumped illegal aliens together with war refugees in Paragraphs 14 & 15 above, as if these two distinct groups are the same. Unlike refugees, illegal aliens were not persecuted by ISIL. Economic hardship is not the same as ethnic and religious cleansing. While this pope knows how to lecture those who are fortunate, telling them to respond accordingly to the plight of the unfortunate, he himself who is more fortunate than most people does nothing. He has taken no illegal immigrant and no Syrian refugee into the Vatican City.]
This Rule points us in a clear direction. Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated. Let us seek for others the same possibilities which we seek for ourselves. Let us help others to grow, as we would like to be helped ourselves. In a word, if we want security, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us. The Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development.
[This pope should remove the plank from his own eye, re-read
Matthew 7:3-5 and rewrite Paragraph 16 above to include an admission of his own blatant hypocrisy.]
This conviction has led me, from the beginning of my ministry, to advocate at different levels for the global abolition of the death penalty. I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes. Recently my brother bishops here in the United States renewed their call for the abolition of the death penalty. Not only do I support them, but I also offer encouragement to all those who are convinced that a just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation.
[This pope said it was acceptable to stop an unjust aggressor by means of airstrikes. See
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/August/Pope-Francis-US-Action-against-ISIS-a-Just-War/ Is not the bombing of ISIL the equivalent of a death penalty that this pope wanted to abolish in Paragraph 17 above? Does this pope plan to reconcile his inconsistent positions?]
In these times when social concerns are so important, I cannot fail to mention the Servant of God Dorothy Day, who founded the Catholic Worker Movement. Her social activism, her passion for justice and for the cause of the oppressed, were inspired by the Gospel, her faith, and the example of the saints.
[What has this pope done lately for the oppressed? There are millions around the world that this pope had conveniently skipped over in Paragraph 18 above and in real life.]
How much progress has been made in this area in so many parts of the world! How much has been done in these first years of the third millennium to raise people out of extreme poverty! I know that you share my conviction that much more still needs to be done, and that in times of crisis and economic hardship a spirit of global solidarity must not be lost. At the same time I would encourage you to keep in mind all those people around us who are trapped in a cycle of poverty. They too need to be given hope. The fight against poverty and hunger must be fought constantly and on many fronts, especially in its causes. I know that many Americans today, as in the past, are working to deal with this problem.
[This pope expressed concern for the poor in Paragraph 19 above and what has he done for them? Does the Vatican have a soup kitchen for the poor and homeless and does this pope dine with them when the cameras are not around?]
It goes without saying that part of this great effort is the creation and distribution of wealth. The right use of natural resources, the proper application of technology and the harnessing of the spirit of enterprise are essential elements of an economy which seeks to be modern, inclusive and sustainable. “Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving the world. It can be a fruitful source of prosperity for the area in which it operates, especially if it sees the creation of jobs as an essential part of its service to the common good” (Laudato Si’, 129). This common good also includes the earth, a central theme of the encyclical which I recently wrote in order to “enter into dialogue with all people about our common home” (ibid., 3). “We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all” (ibid., 14).
In Laudato Si’, I call for a courageous and responsible effort to “redirect our steps” (ibid., 61), and to avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity. I am convinced that we can make a difference and I have no doubt that the United States – and this Congress – have an important role to play. Now is the time for courageous actions and strategies, aimed at implementing a “culture of care” (ibid., 231) and “an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature” (ibid., 139). “We have the freedom needed to limit and direct technology” (ibid., 112); “to devise intelligent ways of… developing and limiting our power” (ibid., 78); and to put technology “at the service of another type of progress, one which is healthier, more human, more social, more integral” (ibid., 112). In this regard, I am confident that America’s outstanding academic and research institutions can make a vital contribution in the years ahead.
[Why did he not use in Paragraphs 20 & 21 above some form of the word "greed" when businesses think only of profit but not of the environment, and not admonish the hypocritical environmentalists who own the latest technology gadgets without giving any thought to throwing out the dated ones that do not biodegrade but instead leak toxic substances into the ground?]
A century ago, at the beginning of the Great War, which Pope Benedict XV termed a “pointless slaughter”, another notable American was born: the Cistercian monk Thomas Merton. He remains a source of spiritual inspiration and a guide for many people. In his autobiography he wrote: “I came into the world. Free by nature, in the image of God, I was nevertheless the prisoner of my own violence and my own selfishness, in the image of the world into which I was born. That world was the picture of Hell, full of men like myself, loving God, and yet hating him; born to love him, living instead in fear of hopeless self-contradictory hungers”. Merton was above all a man of prayer, a thinker who challenged the certitudes of his time and opened new horizons for souls and for the Church. He was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions.
From this perspective of dialogue, I would like to recognize the efforts made in recent months to help overcome historic differences linked to painful episodes of the past. It is my duty to build bridges and to help all men and women, in any way possible, to do the same. When countries which have been at odds resume the path of dialogue – a dialogue which may have been interrupted for the most legitimate of reasons – new opportunities open up for all. This has required, and requires, courage and daring, which is not the same as irresponsibility. A good political leader is one who, with the interests of all in mind, seizes the moment in a spirit of openness and pragmatism. A good political leader always opts to initiate processes rather than possessing spaces (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 222-223).
[It is not a pope's "duty to build bridges and to help all men and women..." Again, a pope's duty is to be a conduit for the light of Christ to shine through, so that sinners are able to receive Christ into their hearts and have eternal salvation. Paragraph 23 above shows once more that this pope likes to be at the center of attention just like Satan, relegating the Son of God to the sidelines.]
Being at the service of dialogue and peace also means being truly determined to minimize and, in the long term, to end the many armed conflicts throughout our world. Here we have to ask ourselves: Why are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict untold suffering on individuals and society? Sadly, the answer, as we all know, is simply for money: money that is drenched in blood, often innocent blood. In the face of this shameful and culpable silence, it is our duty to confront the problem and to stop the arms trade.
[Paragraph 24 above points to this pope's denial that armed conflicts and defense spending contribute a significant amount of wealth to the world economy that indirectly benefits the Catholic church and charitable organizations. This blogger has yet to see evidence that this pope had at any time rejected money, soaked in blood, freshly laundered or otherwise immorally, illegally or unethically obtained.]
Three sons and a daughter of this land, four individuals and four dreams: Lincoln, liberty; Martin Luther King, liberty in plurality and non-exclusion; Dorothy Day, social justice and the rights of persons; and Thomas Merton, the capacity for dialogue and openness to God. Four representatives of the American people.
I will end my visit to your country in Philadelphia, where I will take part in the World Meeting of Families. It is my wish that throughout my visit the family should be a recurrent theme. How essential the family has been to the building of this country! And how worthy it remains of our support and encouragement! Yet I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without. Fundamental relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage and the family. I can only reiterate the importance and, above all, the richness and the beauty of family life. In particular, I would like to call attention to those family members who are the most vulnerable, the young. For many of them, a future filled with countless possibilities beckons, yet so many others seem disoriented and aimless, trapped in a hopeless maze of violence, abuse and despair. Their problems are our problems. We cannot avoid them. We need to face them together, to talk about them and to seek effective solutions rather than getting bogged down in discussions. At the risk of oversimplifying, we might say that we live in a culture which pressures young people not to start a family, because they lack possibilities for the future. Yet this same culture presents others with so many options that they too are dissuaded from starting a family.
[Paragraph 26 above is devoted the family and the young but this pope chose to remain artfully silent on matters such as gay marriage and surrogacy, peophilia, transgenderism, deadbeat dads, broken families and abortion.]
A nation can be considered great when it defends liberty as Lincoln did, when it fosters a culture which enables people to “dream” of full rights for all their brothers and sisters, as Martin Luther King sought to do; when it strives for justice and the cause of the oppressed, as Dorothy Day did by her tireless work, the fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows peace in the contemplative style of Thomas Merton.
In these remarks I have sought to present some of the richness of your cultural heritage, of the spirit of the American people. It is my desire that this spirit continue to develop and grow, so that as many young people as possible can inherit and dwell in a land which has inspired so many people to dream.
God bless America!
[In the concluding paragraph, this pope once again put himself at the center of attention, summarizing what he had done and saying what he desired. Lastly, he mentioned God. Perhaps this pope knew what he was doing, and knew that had Jesus given a speech to the United States Congress, it would be his speech, and that Jesus would at the end of the speech bless America, a place, or perhaps an ideal, rather than giving a
blessing of peace to the people.]
[1]
http://abcnewsradioonline.com/politics-news/pope-francis-gives-historic-speech-to-congress.html
[2] In comparison to the speech to the United States Congress, the pope's speech to the United Nations is better written, more cogent, one that seems to have had a different author, a lawyer perhaps, even though in many of the paragraphs this pope could not help but bring attention to himself. The full text of the speech can be accessed here:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/full-text-pope-francis-speech-united-nations/ How it ended was surprising: the blessing was for the people and not a place.
[3] This entry is the 666th entry in this blog. This blogger did not plan this, so this has to be a coincidence, one that gave this blogger a momentary pause for thought: could he be an agent of 666 by his criticisms of this pope?
