WASHINGTON 鈥� When Pope Francis addresses a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday, he鈥檒l be speaking to a lot of his followers: 31 percent of the House and 26 percent of the Senate are Catholic, CBS Congressional Correspondent Nancy Cordes told 草莓传媒 on Wednesday morning. And whether they鈥檙e Democrats or Republicans, they鈥檙e likely to hear something with which they disagree.
鈥淲hile he sides with Democrats on issues such as climate change and immigration and income inequality, he sides with Republicans on abortion and traditional marriage,鈥� Cordes says.
One House member, Paul Gosar, R-Arizona, is a Catholic, but he鈥檚 sitting the address out, saying he 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 want to be lectured on climate change,鈥� Cordes says.
That said, no one is sure what Francis will tell Congress. It鈥檚 presumed that he will address come of the hot-button issues he鈥檚 taken stands on.
鈥淗e鈥檚 sort of at a place of maximum influence to do that,鈥� Cordes says, but 鈥渘o one really knows what kind of tone he鈥檚 going to take.鈥�
CBS Nightly 草莓传媒 Anchor Scott Pelley spoke with Pope Francis in Rome last week, and got no clues.
鈥淭he pope told him, 鈥業 will say whatever the Holy Spirit moves me to say.鈥欌��
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, a former Jesuit missionary, tells 草莓传媒聽that he’s not sure what he’ll hear either, but the important thing is to go in with an open mind — “not looking to grab on to聽the one or two things we agree with and hold those聽up and say ‘See? We’re right about this.’
“I think the pope is not a politician, and he’s not gonna speak about politics, and I don’t think he’ll speak about issues, but I do think he’ll speak about values. And it would be helpful for us to hear a speech about that.”
Kaine adds that he hopes Francis will speak about the importance of leaders being servants. “He is really setting a leadership example that if you want to be a leader … you have to serve others.”
He also hopes Francis inspires Congress to make tough choices and make big moves. “It doesn’t all have to be about delay, kicking the can down the road, avoiding hard votes, blaming inaction on the other side.
“We’re put in leadership positions to do things; we have a unique opportunity to do things. And I聽hope he sets high expectations for us, rather than the low expectations that we often set for each other.”
The members of Congress are rarely thought of as a restrained bunch, and to ensure that protocol is being followed. That doesn鈥檛 mean they鈥檒l work, Cordes says.
“They鈥檙e a bunch that is difficult to control, and so the question is, will they be jumping up and cheering at things that they like? Will they sort of be respectful and hold their applause until the end? We鈥檝e seen before, leaders can advise them, but at the end of the day they鈥檙e going to do what they want to do.鈥�
Among the Catholics in the House is Speaker John Boehner, who tried for months to get the pope to speak to Congress during his U.S. visit. Cordes says it鈥檒l be a big moment for Boehner when the pope addresses Congress, and especially when he speaks to a crowd of thousands from Boehner鈥檚 balcony afterward: 鈥淚t鈥檚 really going to be quite a spectacle.鈥�
