Francis is also expected to urge the United Nations negotiators to forge a climate change pact at a December conference in Paris.
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Pope Francis seems most comfortable when mingling with his flock. To answer that question, The Agenda’s Danny Vinik sat down with Rep. Steve King, a Catholic Republican lawmaker from Iowa. Pope Francis has been praised as well for declining to wear ermine capes, asking the people gathered on St. Peter’s Square at his papal election to bless him and more. Francis, who advocates for an end to mass incarceration and opposes the death penalty, will arrive in the United States as criminal justice reform emerges as a hot political topic.
Obama and Pope Francis met last March at the Vatican, where they spoke for about an hour.
When Pope Francis visits New York City for the first time this Thursday afternoon, it won’t just be city streets that make way for the Popemobile – though according to officials, the visit will mark the greatest number of street closures in the city’s history. “I do think it has really grown leaps and bounds”, she said. Pope Francis named a different Iraqi couple to this year’s Synod in Rome, Suhaila Salim Toma and Wisam Marqus Odeesho, and they will continue to represent the dwindling Church in their country. That should be a problem from an American perspective.
Still, some conservative believers say the pope’s message of mercy and forgiveness is sowing seeds of confusion, especially on moral issues. “I can’t even come up with a word…it’s huge”. I don’t think that it would be a definitive kind of support, but it might weaken our commitment to free enterprise.
THE WHITE HOUSE: Pope Francis will visit the White House on Wednesday morning, becoming only the third pope to visit the home. How do you respond to that?
Obama, for his part, told Francis, “It is central to USA foreign policy that we protect the interests of religious minorities around the world“. But the drilling boom has raised worries about pollution, climate change, and potentially damaging earthquakes from wastewater injection – fears that the oil industry says are overblown. Just 11 percent of those polled had an unfavorable view. But I have looked at that science and it’s not compelling. Between 2006 and 2011 more than half of Syria suffered the worst drought on record. I was beginning to believe it might not happen, that this dream of mine might not materialize.
In Cuba, rather than harshly rebuking the Castro regime for its decades of restricting freedom for its people, President Raul Castro walked away telling reporters how the Pope makes him consider returning to the Catholic Church and praying again. Political opportunists is what they are.
One thing is certain: This is a visit of enormous significance. The Pope wasn’t firing off a position memo for consideration by The New York Times editorial board.
Pope Francis centers himself on the needs of the poor, outsiders, those on the periphery, Joseph said.
SK: It can affect them, and of course that is a concern. (If friendship were not freely chosen, it would not be friendship, but coercion.) God’s most lovely characteristic is that he comes to us with forgiveness and mercy. The traditionalists agree with us on life and on marriage.
During an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, Christie reminded the audience that the pope’s supposed infallibility only applies to religion, not politics. All we know is that when Pope Francis begins his Mass here in 2015, a jolt of religious electricity will travel through every single human being nearby. Do you agree? “He blames us and money for what’s going on in the Middle East”.
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DV: Do Syrian men have a duty to fight? The measures required the energy giants to disclose the risks the companies could face if countries reduce their fossil fuel use and drastically curb greenhouse gas emissions.
