John Kerry.

The Holy Father's address to Congress was a call to recognize the dignity, equality, and good in every person - to recognize it and act upon it. It's up to us to fight for economic and social justice. It's up to us to protect our Earth. It's up to us to remember these, the least of thy brethren, and to build a future for all our kids. Members of Congress come from different faiths and beliefs, but the Pope's words today are a powerful reminder that these are not just political or economic issues - they also are moral issues that reflect our deepest values as a people.

 One night we were joined by a high Vatican official who was a friend of a friend.  Talk, of course, turned to the then relatively new Pope, John Paul II. The table mused and enthused about him--his charisma, his breath of fresh air, on and on.

Being among friends, I offered my view that was much less wondrous,  which was that their canonization  was premature, time would be a better judge.  My words proved to be a show stopper, they all said they respected my judgment and were interested in my reasons for so saying.  

The core of my reasoning was that the Pope was building a popular base at the start so as to obtain popular acceptance for his very unpopular and  conservative theology.  And, to take the Church back to another century--a century that that better fitted him, and he believed, the Church.

 This is what, in essence, occurred over his long tenure. A tenure that extends beyond his own papacy, not just with his immediate, and subsequently resigned, and equally conservative  successor, but also,  through the world-wide appointments of like minded bishops and cardinals. Some careerists, but others like Cardinal Burke.  

Similarly, Pope Francis has been building a popular base, of which the US visit is part. I believe his goal is two fold, to use his popularity to institute change in tone, which is almost tantamount to a change in doctrine, and through his popularity, do an end run around those bishops trapped in theological and traditional amber. The Curia, too, is ossified and needs some limbering up.

  The Pope has a test coming up soon with his own bishops. He and John Boehner  have some similarities in dealing with a tough bunch.  As Gail Collins suggested, after the address before Congress, the Pope may have taken Boehner aside, grabbed him by the  lapels, and said, my son, you're surrounded by crazies, get out while you still can.

They're all angry because this Pope has deliberately chosen to de-emphasize the divisive "family values" issues of abortion and marriage equality that are so near and dear to right-wing hearts. Rather, he's realigned the Church's mission to more closely reflect his own Jesuit values, by putting much greater value on good works within one's own community, in particular compassion and care for the poor and needy.

To wit, His Holiness has blistered the world's well-to-do by denouncing their unbridled greed as the "new tyranny," and his appeal about our need to deal realistically with the issue of climate change is part of his overall message about the inherent perils of subordinating the planet's long-term health and viability to short-term profit margins.

To a GOP that has long espoused the sort of superficial religiosity that former comedian and now U.S. Sen. Al Franken once lampooned as "The Gospel of Supply-Side Jesus," the willingness of Pope Francis to speak truth to power on behalf of his own constituents amounts to nothing less than sacrilege.

Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr were iconic leaders--albeit, at this point,  relatively safe exemplars.

 Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton were instructive and illustrative. Both were Catholic activists whose approaches took different pahs of activism.

 But both were Catholic activists with a holistic and ecumenical reach.  Dorothy Day, who is now on the road to sainthood, was an activist in the pursuit of social justice, who pursued her goals with action.

 Thomas Merton embraced his activism in a contemplative fashion. But, no less active in his fervor for  interfaith dialog.  Both voices were important, Day's loud, Merton's less oo.

  Both were silenced: Day was told by Cardinal Spellman that she should not call herself "Catholic."  Attempts were made to silence Thomas Merton.  

The Pope's examples, provide the tone that he is suggesting, for all religions, without regard to specific theological doctrines, especially Catholicism. And, he rehabilitated Day and Merton, as workers and for their work.

"It set off warning bells," she told BuzzFeed News.
The term itself -- "unjust discrimination" -- appears in a key, conflicting paragraph in the Catholic catechism about homosexuality. "This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial," it says. "They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided."
Pope Francis on Wednesday also visited Little Sisters of the Poor, who in 2013 filed a lawsuit to challenge provisions of the Affordable Care Act that require employers to provide contraception coverage. The nuns cite religious objections. While the pope was supporting the nuns' legal challenge by making an appearance, it is unclear that the pope's comments earlier in the day were confined to that issue.
Contacted by BuzzFeed News in a phone call, Father Federico Lombardi, a spokesman for the pope, did not clarify which subjects the pope was addressing -- same-sex marriage, the Affordable Care Act, homosexuals in the church, or something else -- when discussing discrimination and religious freedom.