Bishop Barron on Pope Francis, Thiomas Merton, and Congress

"I had the extraordinary privilege last week of following the Pope's pilgrimage at very close quarters. I had this access both as a bishop and as a commentator for NBC News. It was thrilling indeed to witness just how rapturously the American people received the Pope and how affected the Holy Father was by this reception. Many images stay vividly in my mind: the Pope kissing the forehead of the ten year old boy with cerebral palsy, the rabbi and imam praying together at the September 11th memorial, a little boy from a New York Catholic school showing the Pope how to maneuver his way around a Smart Board. But what stays most powerfully with me is the Pope speaking to a joint meeting of the United States Congress in Washington, D.C.

"My first assignment for NBC last week was the Today Show's coverage of the Pope's arrival on the south lawn of the White House. As I sat on the platform with Matt Lauer and Maria Shriver, I looked across at the stately obelisk of the Washington Monument, and I remembered an extraordinary event from the mid- nineteenth century. Along with many other world leaders, Pope Pius IX had sent a block for the construction of the monument to the Father of our country, but an angry mob of anti-Catholic bigots took that piece of marble and threw it into the Potomac. This of course was not an isolated or purely egregious act of vandalism; rather, it partook of a widespread and deeply-rooted hatred of Catholicism that lasted in this country in fairly virulent form up to the election of John F. Kennedy in 1960. That the Pope of Rome would be graciously received at the White House and welcomed to speak before the entire Congress of the United States would have struck most Americans, for much of our history, as simply unthinkable. And this is why (and I'll confess it openly) my eyes filled with tears as I saw the pope standing at the rostrum in the House of Representatives, the cheers of the gathered lawmakers washing over him.

"And as I listened to the pope's words that day, I was even more astonished. As is his wont, Francis didn't trade in abstractions. Instead, he focused his remarks on four outstanding figures from American history -- Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton -- each of whom spoke of some dimension of authentic freedom. . . ."

In a recent commentary, Bishop Robert Barron reflected on some images regarding Pope Francis' recent visit to the United States.

To access Bishop Barron's complete essay, please visit:

The Boston Pilot: Echoes: The Pope, the Congress, and a Trappist monk. ( 2 OCT 15)