A Pope for All Seasons

For those predicting division and anger in the US Congress , Pope Francis delivered a characteristic surprise with one of his politically most finely balanced speeches since his election.
He won over the great American nation within seconds , paying tribute to the ‘land of the free and home of the brave’ before drawing on the example of four exemplary Americans who between them cut across race, party, religion, and sex: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Thomas Merton, and Dorothy Day.
There were  no walk outs, nor organised partisan sit-downs. Time and again applause, following the lengthy standing ovation that greeted him, interrupted him, as he talked respectfully to the most powerful nation in the world’s  representatives in language that touched them all. How could they not applause when he reminded them , as one more son of immigrants, born in the Americas, that they too were foreigners in this land once upon a time.
This was a speech not so much addressed to Catholics but to the US people and through them to the world using the forum to speak out on issues that cut across countries and continents. The pursuit of the common good involved a culture of care not just for the poor but for the planet as a whole. When he talked about the right to life, he did not mention abortion specifically, but the need to abolish the death penalty. He paid tribute to the hardworking family man, who cares about those he loves more than about the kind of taxes he pays. The importance of family life came up more than once, drawing the warmest of standing ovations. . He thanked the peace-makers, and spoke out for the dignity and security of migrants. There were pickings here for Republicans and Democrats but no one could easily claim he was taking the side of one party or the other. That would to belittle a great speech- that of a global spiritual leader with a political nose for the occasion and an audience. Pope Francis, a Pope of All Seasons, a Pope of Good Promise.