Pope Francis made history during his Sept. 22-24, 2015 pastoral visit to Washington, the first stop on his first visit to the United States.
Making history as the first pontiff to address a joint meeting of Congress, Pope Francis encouraged lawmakers to work together for the common good, on behalf of the poor and immigrants, and in defense of human life and the environment.
“The challenges facing us today call for a renewal of that spirit of cooperation, which has accomplished so much good throughout the history of the United States,” the pope said.
Noting how immigrants come to the United States in search of a better life for themselves and their loved ones, he urged the lawmakers to see immigrants as people worthy of respect and compassion.
As he addressed Congress, Pope Francis praised the legacy of four noted Americans who he said demonstrated how to build a better future for the country: President Abraham Lincoln; civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; and two 20th century Catholics – Dorothy Day, who devoted her life to serving the poor, and Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk who promoted world peace and dialogue with and respect for other religions.
Then immediately afterward, the Holy Father visited with some of the poor and the homeless served by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, and the volunteers and staff members engaged in that work.
Pope Francis first met at St. Patrick’s Church in Washington next to Catholic Charities’ headquarters with clients and the agency’s employees. He prayed that God would give them strength to keep going on their life’s journey. “May the Lord bless each one of you, and may he also bless Catholic Charities and the faith-filled work they do for the poor and marginalized of your city,” the pope said.
Msgr. John Enzler, then the president and CEO of Catholic Charities, said, “Think about where he (Pope Francis) has been today – (addressing) the Senate and Congress. He leaves where there are powerful people to meet with those who have no voice, the weak, the vulnerable. His visit has given us a huge message of the call we have to take care of the poor.”
Then the pope stepped outside to say a prayer before a lunch served by Catholic Charities’ St. Maria’s Meals Program for about 300 clients, and he moved through the crowd, smiling and greeting the people gathered there.
One day earlier, Pope Francis celebrated a Canonization Mass outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for St. Junípero Serra, the famous 18th century Franciscan missionary to California. The canonization was the first to be held in the United States. The pope said Father Serra’s motto, “Keep moving forward!” – inspired that saint’s life and work and should likewise inspire today’s Catholics to be missionary disciples in their everyday lives.
That morning, Pope Francis was welcomed at the White House by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. Members of the gospel choir from St. Augustine Parish in Washington sang at the ceremony. President Obama praised the pontiff for his “message of love and hope (that) has inspired so many people across our nation and around the world.”
Pope Francis, in thanking President Obama for his welcome, said, “As a son of an immigrant family, I am happy to be a guest in this country, which was largely built by such families.”
After a popemobile ride to greet cheering crowds around the Ellipse, Pope Francis joined a midday prayer service at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle with more than 300 of the nation’s Catholic bishops. Calling himself “a pastor from the South” and a “brother among brothers,” the first Latin American pontiff encouraged the bishops to be pastors to the people whom they serve. He also asked the bishops to continue to welcome and assist immigrants, saying, “I am certain that, as so often in the past, these people will enrich America and its Church.”
After his White House visit, the midday prayer service at St. Matthew’s Cathedral and the historic Canonization Mass outside the National Shrine, Pope Francis made a surprise stop to the Jeanne Jugan Residence for the elderly poor operated by the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington and thanked the sisters for their work.
But the pope’s day was not finished. Moments later, his small black Fiat pulled in front of the archdiocese’s Saint John Paul Seminary, and Pope Francis stepped out to visit with the 49 seminarians studying there and with their priest faculty members. The pope said he was happy to see those young men listening to and answering God’s call. Before he left, he wrote a handwritten message for them, saying, “May the seminarians of Saint John Paul II Seminary grow daily in their love for Jesus and be his witnesses in the world. And please, pray for me. Don’t forget!”
When Pope Francis’s plane landed at Joint Base Andrews on Sept. 22, 2015, he was greeted by President Obama and four Catholic schoolchildren, with music provided by the Wind Ensemble from DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. Throughout his visit to Washington, cheering and flag-waving students from local Catholic schools stood outside the Apostolic Nunciature to greet his comings and goings there. Pope Francis often stopped to personally greet some of the students.
During his visit to Washington, Pope Francis’s way of proclaiming and living the Gospel from the halls of Congress to a food line at Catholic Charities touched people’s hearts and captivated the nation.
To celebrate the pope’s arrival, more than 100,000 people in the community took the Walk with Francis pledge to pray, serve or act on behalf of those in need, and inspired by the pope’s example, many more people took that pledge in the months that followed, ensuring that they would continue moving forward on a journey of faith begun by the pope when he visited Washington.
