by Thomas Reese, S.J., NCR
While in the United States, Pope Francis exercised his prophetic office by comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable, but he did it with a soft and respectful voice.
Before his arrival, some of his critics said that he hated America and didn’t understand it, he was going to lecture Congress, he only talked about the poor and the rich and not working people, and he did not recognize that capitalism had brought millions of people out of poverty.
During his visit, especially in his talk to Congress, he confounded all his critics.
That Pope Francis loves the American people was clear in every encounter he had with individuals or crowds of people. He reached out with love and warmth to young and old, to everyone with whom he came into contact.
He also had clearly done his homework in studying America, which he called “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”…