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U.S. NEWSThursday 24 September
Adoring Crowds Greet Pope in Nation’s Capital
Pope Francis smiles as gatherers applaud him inside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the that.”
Immaculate Conception in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015, before holding a mass to Washington resident There-
canonize Junipero Serra.
Continued from Front
Francis was enthusiastic in
his embrace of Obama’s
climate change agenda,
specifically praising the
president for taking steps
to reduce air pollution. In a
firm message to those who
doubt the science of cli-
mate change, he said the
warming planet “demands
on our part a serious and
responsible recognition” of
the world that will be left to
today’s children.
“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,” said Francis,
who has been pressing his
environmental message
ahead of climate change
talks in Paris later this year.
The pope’s messages were
warmly welcomed by
Obama, who has prodded
his Republican rivals for ac-
tion on immigration and cli-
mate change with limited
success. In his own remarks
heralding the pope’s ar-
rival at the White House,
Obama thanked Francis
for reminding the world of
the “sacred obligation to
protect our planet - God’s
magnificent gift to us.”
The pope and president
were also aligned in their
call for addressing global
poverty and inequality,
with Obama praising Fran-
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool) her mother and five chil-
cis’ call to put “the least of Court legalization of same-
these at the center of our
concern.”
The pope had something
for conservatives, too, with
a clear call to protect re-
ligious liberties — “one of
America’s most precious
possessions.”
“All are called to be vigi-
lant,’ he said, “to preserve
and defend that freedom
from everything that would
threaten or compromise it.”
U.S. bishops and conserva-
tives who have objected
to the Obama administra-
tion’s health care mandate
and the recent Supreme
President Barack Obama leans over to talk to Pope Francis during a state arrival ceremony on the
South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015.
sa Wellman, who brought
sex marriage have made
religious freedom a rallying of the nation’s capital,
cry, with a largely domestic called Francis “a breath of
focus.
After their opening remarks
on the lawn, Obama and
Francis met one-on-one
for 40 minutes in the Oval
Office, joined only by an
interpreter. White House
aides said the discussion
was private, and declined
to say whether the lead-
ers addressed subjects on
which they sharply differ,
including abortion and gay
marriage.
While the pope’s visit was
analyzed for political im- In his remarks to U.S. bish-
ops at the Cathedral of St.
plications in a city al- Matthew the Apostle, Fran-
cis emphasized one of the
ready consumed by next defining messages of his
papacy, to focus less on
year’s U.S. presidential defending church teach-
ing and more on compas-
election, for Catholics and sion. The pope told the
American church leaders
many other Americans that “harsh and divisive
language does not befit
Francis’ six-day, three-city the tongue of a pastor”
and he encouraged them
trip to the U.S. is an oppor- to speak with anyone, no
matter their views.
tunity to connect with a In his first comments in
the U.S. on the clergy
humble church leader who sex abuse scandal that
erupted in 2002, the pope
has rejuvenated many of praised the bishops for a
“generous commitment to
the country’s believers. bring healing to victims”
and for acting “without
“He’s made the church fear of self-criticism.”
An organization for abuse
more of an obtainable victims quickly disagreed.
“Almost without exception,
thing,” said Nigel Stacy, a they have shown coward-
ice and callousness and
law student who arrived continue to do so now,”
said Barbara Dorris, presi-
at the White House in the dent of SNAP, or Survivors
Network of those Abused
middle of the night to get by Priests.
Under public pressure,
a good place to stand for the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops pledged
the arrival ceremony. “It’s to oust any guilty clergy
from church work and en-
more relatable. You see act safeguards for children.
However, some victims say
what he does and you the bishops still haven’t
fully accounted for shelter-
can see yourself emulating ing abusers. This year, three
bishops resigned over their
failures to protect children.
Later Wednesday, Fran-
cis celebrated a Mass of
Canonization, the first ever
on U.S. soil, for Junipero Ser-
ra in Spanish.
Several thousand of the
dren to watch the pope’s 25,000 tickets to the event
parade through the streets were set aside for Spanish-
speaking people, many
from California. The Basili-
fresh air.” ca of the National Shrine of
“He’s changed the tone the Immaculate Concep-
into a loving, merciful tion erected a temporary
church to serve the poor,” sanctuary outdoors for the
Wellman said. Mass, which lasted into the
The church’s leadership evening.
in the U.S. has sometimes On Thursday, Francis
been more skeptical of planned to deliver the
the pope, wary of the di- first papal address ever
vide between his focus on to Congress, speaking to
a merciful church and the Republican-majority legis-
culture wars that Ameri- lators deeply at odds with
ca’s bishops have been Obama on many of the
involved in over abortion same issues the leaders
and gay rights. addressed at the White
House.q
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)