Papal Pap

Musing on the pope from pope-strangled Philadelphia:

...much of the pope’s speech sounded humanistic. This is why a news magazine placed a photo of the pope on its current magazine cover, asking: “Is the Pope Catholic?”  This pope has been harder to criticize, sounding more like a real human being. And I think that’s the real danger — putting a pretty face on Catholic dogma, which has not budged.

But I thought his talk with full of papal pap for the most part. Who’s to argue with saying people should get along, care about the cycle of poverty and call the United States the “land of dreams”?

But it doesn’t really matter what the pope said during his joint address to Congress. Even had I or you agreed with everything the pope said, it was still unfitting, unprecedented, unconstitutional, that a religious figure was invited, for the first time in history, to make such remarks before a joint session of Congress.

What distresses me the most is the spectacle of a deferential and adoring Congress turning out and giving a standing ovation to a religious leader of such a powerful religion, the huge screens for onlookers outside, the governmental websites devoted to promoting the pope’s visit including devotional events — all of this put on by our secular government at taxpayer expense. The symbolism of our government united with the Catholic Church is the worst message.