“I believe the excitement around your visit, Holy Father, must be attributed not only to your role as pope but to your unique qualities as a person,” the president began, in welcoming the pope, as the pontiff sat beside the lectern on the south lawn.
“In your humility, your embrace of simplicity, in the gentleness of your words and the generosity of your spirit, we see a living example of Jesus’ teachings,” Obama said.
“You call on all of us, Catholic and non-Catholic alike to...ensure that every human being is able to live in dignity, because we are all made in the image of God,” he said.
The event attended by thousands of dignitaries kicked off the pope’s whirlwind series of parades and appearances across the District Wednesday.
The Spanish-speaking pope, addressed the president in accented but clear English.
“Mr. President, I find it encouraging that you are proposing an initiative for reducing air pollution,” he said. “Accepting the urgency, it seems clear to me also that climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation.
“When it comes to the care of our “common home”, we are living at a critical moment of history,” he said. “We still have time to make the changes needed.”
Francis’s remarks also focused on the need to provide comfort to those at the margins of society.
Francis introduced himself to the crowd in his first sentence as “the son of an immigrant,” – his family came from Italy to Argentina – and described the United States as “largely built by such families.”
The words are likely to resonate at a time where the political debate in the U.S. has been marked by a divisive debate over immigration.
Francis’s remarks were brief but also welcome to a White House looking to build momentum ahead of a summit ahead of a major U.N. summit on climate change in Paris in December.
www.washingtonpost
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