Below is the full text of the speech of Pope Francis given to Congress 9/24/15. In it he sites four Americans for their virtue, two of them Catholic, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton, Brother Louis (a Trappist). He spoke Dorothy's name four times. Thanks to Time magazine and others who posted the entire text (some state it is the entire text and it is not, even among Catholic periodicals, God forgive us).
Each son or daughter of a
given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility. Your own
responsibility as members of Congress is to enable this country, by your
legislative activity, to grow as a nation. You are the face of its people, their
representatives. You are called to defend and preserve the dignity of your
fellow citizens in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common good, for
this is the chief aim of all politics. A political society endures when it
seeks, as a vocation, to satisfy common needs by stimulating the growth of all
its members, especially those in situations of greater vulnerability or risk.
Legislative activity is always based on care for the people. To this you have
been invited, called and convened by those who elected you.
Yours is a work which makes
me reflect in two ways on the figure of Moses. On the one hand, the patriarch
and lawgiver of the people of Israel symbolizes the need of peoples to keep
alive their sense of unity by means of just legislation. On the other, the
figure of Moses leads us directly to God and thus to the transcendent dignity
of the human being. Moses provides us with a good synthesis of your work: you
are asked to protect, by means of the law, the image and likeness fashioned by
God on every human face.
Today I would like not only
to address you, but through you the entire people of the United States. Here,
together with their representatives, I would like to take this opportunity to
dialogue with the many thousands of men and women who strive each day to do an
honest day’s work, to bring home their daily bread, to save money and – one
step at a time – to build a better life for their families. These are men and
women who are not concerned simply with paying their taxes, but in their own quiet
way sustain the life of society. They generate solidarity by their actions, and
they create organizations which offer a helping hand to those most in need.
I would also like to enter
into dialogue with the many elderly persons who are a storehouse of wisdom
forged by experience, and who seek in many ways, especially through volunteer
work, to share their stories and their insights. I know that many of them are
retired, but still active; they keep working to build up this land. I also want
to dialogue with all those young people who are working to realize their great
and noble aspirations, who are not led astray by facile proposals, and who face
difficult situations, often as a result of immaturity on the part of many
adults. I wish to dialogue with all of you, and I would like to do so through
the historical memory of your people.
I would like to mention four of these Americans: Abraham
Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton.
This year marks the one hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the
guardian of liberty, who labored tirelessly that “this nation, under God,
[might] have a new birth of freedom”. Building a future of freedom requires
love of the common good and cooperation in a spirit of subsidiarity and
solidarity.
All of us are quite aware of, and deeply worried by, the
disturbing social and political situation of the world today. Our world is
increasingly a place of violent conflict, hatred and brutal atrocities,
committed even in the name of God and of religion. We know that no religion is
immune from forms of individual delusion or ideological extremism. This means
that we must be especially attentive to every type of fundamentalism, whether
religious or of any other kind. A delicate balance is required to combat
violence perpetrated in the name of a religion, an ideology or an economic
system, while also safeguarding religious freedom, intellectual freedom and
individual freedoms. But there is another temptation which we must especially
guard against: the simplistic reductionism which sees only good or evil; or, if
you will, the righteous and sinners. The contemporary world, with its open
wounds which affect so many of our brothers and sisters, demands that we
confront every form of polarization which would divide it into these two camps.
We know that in the attempt to be freed of the enemy without, we can be tempted
to feed the enemy within. To imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants and
murderers is the best way to take their place. That is something which you, as
a people, reject.
Our response must instead be one of hope and healing, of peace and justice. We are asked to summon the courage and the intelligence to resolve today’s many geopolitical and economic crises. Even in the developed world, the effects of unjust structures and actions are all too apparent. Our efforts must aim at restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments, and thus promoting the well-being of individuals and of peoples. We must move forward together, as one, in a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity, cooperating generously for the common good.
Our response must instead be one of hope and healing, of peace and justice. We are asked to summon the courage and the intelligence to resolve today’s many geopolitical and economic crises. Even in the developed world, the effects of unjust structures and actions are all too apparent. Our efforts must aim at restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments, and thus promoting the well-being of individuals and of peoples. We must move forward together, as one, in a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity, cooperating generously for the common good.
The challenges facing us today
call for a renewal of that spirit of cooperation, which has accomplished so
much good throughout the history of the United States. The complexity, the
gravity and the urgency of these challenges demand that we pool our resources
and talents, and resolve to support one another, with respect for our
differences and our convictions of conscience.
In this land, the various religious denominations have greatly
contributed to building and strengthening society. It is important that today,
as in the past, the voice of faith continue to be heard, for it is a voice of
fraternity and love, which tries to bring out the best in each person and in
each society. Such cooperation is a powerful resource in the battle to
eliminate new global forms of slavery, born of grave injustices which can be
overcome only through new policies and new forms of social consensus.
Politics is, instead, an expression of our compelling need to
live as one, in order to build as one the greatest common good: that of a
community which sacrifices particular interests in order to share, in justice
and peace, its goods, its interests, its social life. I do not underestimate
the difficulty that this involves, but I encourage you in this
effort.Here too
I think of the march which Martin Luther King led from Selma to Montgomery
fifty years ago as part of the campaign to fulfill his “dream” of full civil
and political rights for African Americans. That dream continues to inspire us
all. I am happy that America continues to be, for many, a land of “dreams”.
Dreams which lead to action, to participation, to commitment. Dreams which
awaken what is deepest and truest in the life of a people.
In recent centuries, millions of
people came to this land to pursue their dream of building a future in freedom.
We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners, because most
of us were once foreigners. I say this to you as the son of immigrants, knowing
that so many of you are also descended from immigrants. Tragically, the rights
of those who were here long before us were not always respected. For those
peoples and their nations, from the heart of American democracy, I wish to
reaffirm my highest esteem and appreciation. Those first contacts were often
turbulent and violent, but it is difficult to judge the past by the criteria of
the present. Nonetheless, when the stranger in our midst appeals to us, we must
not repeat the sins and the errors of the past. We must resolve now to live as
nobly and as justly as possible, as we educate new generations not to turn
their back on our “neighbors” and everything around us. Building a nation calls
us to recognize that we must constantly relate to others, rejecting a mindset
of hostility in order to adopt one of reciprocal subsidiarity, in a constant
effort to do our best. I am confident that we can do this.
Our world is facing a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen
since the Second World War. This presents us with great challenges and many
hard decisions. On this continent, too, thousands of persons are led to travel
north in search of a better life for themselves and for their loved ones, in
search of greater opportunities. Is this not what we want for our own children?
We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons,
seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we
can to their situation. To respond in a way which is always humane, just and
fraternal. We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays: to discard whatever
proves troublesome. Let us remember the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you
would have them do unto you” (Mt 7:12).
This Rule
points us in a clear direction. Let us treat others with the same passion and
compassion with which we want to be treated. Let us seek for others the same
possibilities which we seek for ourselves. Let us help others to grow, as we
would like to be helped ourselves. In a word, if we want security, let us give
security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us
provide opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick
which time will use for us. The Golden Rule also reminds us of our
responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its
development.
This conviction
has led me, from the beginning of my ministry, to advocate at different levels
for the global abolition of the death penalty. I am convinced that this way is
the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an
inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of
those convicted of crimes. Recently my brother bishops here in the United
States renewed their call for the abolition of the death penalty. Not only do I
support them, but I also offer encouragement to all those who are convinced
that a just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope
and the goal of rehabilitation.
In these times when social
concerns are so important, I cannot fail to mention the Servant of God Dorothy
Day, who founded the Catholic Worker Movement. Her social activism, her passion
for justice and for the cause of the oppressed, were inspired by the Gospel,
her faith, and the example of the saints.
How much progress has been made in this area in so many parts of
the world! How much has been done in these first years of the third millennium
to raise people out of extreme poverty! I know that you share my conviction
that much more still needs to be done, and that in times of crisis and economic
hardship a spirit of global solidarity must not be lost. At the same time I
would encourage you to keep in mind all those people around us who are trapped
in a cycle of poverty. They too need to be given hope. The fight against
poverty and hunger must be fought constantly and on many fronts, especially in
its causes. I know that many Americans today, as in the past, are working to
deal with this problem.
It goes without
saying that part of this great effort is the creation and distribution of
wealth. The right use of natural resources, the proper application of
technology and the harnessing of the spirit of enterprise are essential
elements of an economy which seeks to be modern, inclusive and sustainable.
“Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving the
world. It can be a fruitful source of prosperity for the area in which it
operates, especially if it sees the creation of jobs as an essential part of
its service to the common good” (Laudato Si’, 129). This common good also
includes the earth, a central theme of the encyclical which I recently wrote in
order to “enter into dialogue with all people about our common home” (ibid.,
3). “We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental
challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all”
(ibid., 14).
In Laudato Si’,
I call for a courageous and responsible effort to “redirect our steps” (ibid.,
61), and to avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration
caused by human activity. I am convinced that we can make a difference and I
have no doubt that the United States – and this Congress – have an important role
to play. Now is the time for courageous actions and strategies, aimed at
implementing a “culture of care” (ibid., 231) and “an integrated approach to
combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time
protecting nature” (ibid., 139). “We have the freedom needed to limit and
direct technology” (ibid., 112); “to devise intelligent ways of… developing and
limiting our power” (ibid., 78); and to put technology “at the service of
another type of progress, one which is healthier, more human, more social, more
integral” (ibid., 112). In this regard, I am confident that America’s
outstanding academic and research institutions can make a vital contribution in
the years ahead.
A century ago,
at the beginning of the Great War, which Pope Benedict XV termed a “pointless
slaughter”, another notable American was born: the Cistercian monk Thomas
Merton. He remains a source of spiritual inspiration and a guide for many
people. In his autobiography he wrote: “I came into the world. Free by nature, in
the image of God, I was nevertheless the prisoner of my own violence and my own
selfishness, in the image of the world into which I was born. That world was
the picture of Hell, full of men like myself, loving God, and yet hating him;
born to love him, living instead in fear of hopeless self-contradictory
hungers”. Merton was above all a man of prayer, a thinker who challenged the
certitudes of his time and opened new horizons for souls and for the Church. He
was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions.
From this
perspective of dialogue, I would like to recognize the efforts made in recent
months to help overcome historic differences linked to painful episodes of the
past. It is my duty to build bridges and to help all men and women, in any way
possible, to do the same. When countries which have been at odds resume the
path of dialogue – a dialogue which may have been interrupted for the most
legitimate of reasons – new opportunities open up for all. This has required, and
requires, courage and daring, which is not the same as irresponsibility. A good
political leader is one who, with the interests of all in mind, seizes the
moment in a spirit of openness and pragmatism. A good political leader always
opts to initiate processes rather than possessing spaces (cf. Evangelii
Gaudium, 222-223).
Being at the service of dialogue
and peace also means being truly determined to minimize and, in the long term,
to end the many armed conflicts throughout our world. Here we have to ask
ourselves: Why are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict
untold suffering on individuals and society? Sadly, the answer, as we all know,
is simply for money: money that is drenched in blood, often innocent blood. In
the face of this shameful and culpable silence, it is our duty to confront the
problem and to stop the arms trade.
Three sons and a daughter of this land, four individuals and
four dreams: Lincoln, liberty; Martin Luther King, liberty in plurality and
non-exclusion; Dorothy Day, social justice and the rights of persons; and
Thomas Merton, the capacity for dialogue and openness to God.
Four representatives of the
American people.
I will end my visit to your country in Philadelphia, where I
will take part in the World Meeting of Families. It is my wish that throughout
my visit the family should be a recurrent theme. How essential the family has
been to the building of this country! And how worthy it remains of our support
and encouragement! Yet I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is
threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without. Fundamental
relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage
and the family. I can only reiterate the importance and, above all, the
richness and the beauty of family life.
In particular,
I would like to call attention to those family members who are the most
vulnerable, the young. For many of them, a future filled with countless
possibilities beckons, yet so many others seem disoriented and aimless, trapped
in a hopeless maze of violence, abuse and despair. Their problems are our
problems. We cannot avoid them. We need to face them together, to talk about
them and to seek effective solutions rather than getting bogged down in
discussions. At the risk of oversimplifying, we might say that we live in a
culture which pressures young people not to start a family, because they lack
possibilities for the future. Yet this same culture presents others with so
many options that they too are dissuaded from starting a family.
A nation can be
considered great when it defends liberty as Lincoln did, when it fosters a
culture which enables people to “dream” of full rights for all their brothers
and sisters, as Martin Luther King sought to do; when it strives for justice
and the cause of the oppressed, as Dorothy Day did by her tireless work, the
fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows peace in the contemplative style
of Thomas Merton.
In these remarks I have sought to
present some of the richness of your cultural heritage, of the spirit of the
American people. It is my desire that this spirit continue to develop and grow,
so that as many young people as possible can inherit and dwell in a land which
has inspired so many people to dream.
God bless America!
 |
| Merton and the Dalai Lama |
 |
| Dorothy Day |
