Pope Francis set to address fractious U.S. Congress
(Worthy News) – Fresh off his meeting with President Barack Obama, Pope Francis delivers a speech on Thursday to a U.S. Congress led by Republicans who have opposed Obama on issues of importance to the pontiff including climate change and immigration.
Francis, who arrived Tuesday in Washington on a U.S. trip that also will take him to New York and Philadelphia, is set to become the first pope to address a joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives at 9:20 a.m. EDT.
The pope is expected to address climate change as well as the need to help migrants fleeing wars, international efforts to resolve conflicts, the U.S. role in helping poorer nations, religious freedom and the “right to life” issues of abortion and euthanasia.
The pope met privately with Obama at the White House on Tuesday, called the Democratic president’s efforts against air pollution “encouraging” and said climate change is a problem the world can no longer leave to future generations to address. [ Source ]