Pope Francis tackles issues head-on during US visit

Pope Francis tackled contentious political issues on the first full day of his US visit, praising president Barack Obama’s efforts to fight climate change and stressing that the “crimes” of clerical sex abuse must never be repeated.

The Argentine pope, on his first visit to the US, also urged people to embrace immigration, a lightning-rod topic in the presidential election cycle, telling American bishops not to be afraid of welcoming Latino immigrants.

In his first public comments on US soil, Pope Francis told political and religious leaders among a 15,000-strong audience at the White House that as a son of an immigrant family he was happy to be a guest in the US, “which was largely built by such families”.

In the first of 18 speeches the 78-year-old pontiff will deliver during his five-day trip, he praised Obama’s sweeping proposals to reduce air pollution.

“Climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation,” the pope said, in a speech that also called for religious liberty and an end to discrimination.

“When it comes to the care of our common home, we are living at a critical moment of history,” he said, in a rare speech in English.

Pope Francis also quoted US civil rights leader Martin Luther King, saying: “We can say that we have defaulted on a promissory note, and now is the time to honour it.”

Speaking before the pontiff’s speech, Obama said that Pope Francis reminded everyone that “we have a sacred obligation to protect our planet, God’s magnificent gift to us”.

The pope’s support for the president’s plans to cut carbon emissions from power stations by almost a third in 15 years will anger Republicans who warn about the dangers of such measures to the economy.

Francis, who today will be the first pope to address a joint session of Congress, said that, as a “brother of this country”, he hoped to “offer words of encouragement” to US lawmakers “to guide the nation’s political future in fidelity to its founding principles”.

One Republican, Paul Gosar, a congressman from Arizona, is boycotting the speech over the pope’s views on climate change.

The pope’s address at the White House was attended by Obama administration cabinet members, along with prominent Catholics, including Ethel Kennedy, widow of former senator Bobby Kennedy, and her grandson, congressman Joseph P Kennedy III.

Pope Francis and the president held a 40-minute meeting in the Oval Office after the ceremony, which was held in front of the White House’s famous South Portico.

Abuse scandal

Later, the pope told American bishops at a ceremony in Washington’s Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle that the offences of the Catholic church’s sex abuse scandal must never be repeated.

“I realise how much the pain of recent years has weighed upon you and I have supported your generous commitment to bring healing to victims - in the knowledge that in healing we too are healed - and to work to ensure that such crimes will never be repeated,” he said.

However, his remarks, although directed at an audience of clerics, drew criticism for focusing on the church rather than the victims.

In a long address during a midday prayer service to the bishops, Francis, speaking in Italian, urged the bishops to open their doors to Latino immigrants, saying that they would “enrich America and its church”.

He apologised for “pleading my own case” as a Latin American, but said the US church had promoted the cause of immigrants, defended their rights and “kept alive the flame of their faith”.

“Perhaps you will be challenged by their diversity,” he said, “but know that they also possess resources meant to be shared, so do not be afraid to welcome them.”

Among the challenges for the future, the pope listed “the innocent victims of abortion, children who die of hunger or from bombings, immigrants who drown in search for a better tomorrow”.

Cheering supporters greeted Francis’s popemobile as he made his way through the US capital’s famous avenues, stopping only to allow him to kiss children plucked from the crowd by his security guards.

“It is once in a lifetime you get a chance to see a pope,” said Amy Fister (59), from Virginia.

“He is the People’s Pope and I want to be there.”

Another supporter, Juan Hernandez (46), from Puerto Rico, said that Francis should not hold back in his comments to Congress.

“That is why so many people are coming back to the church, because of his openness, telling the things how they are,” he said, as he made his way, along with thousands of others, to greet Pope Francis.