Response paper to the Pope’s Address to Congress
Order Description
Here is your writing assignment>
Response paper to the Pope’s Address to Congress: 700-800 words, due next class, Monday, 9/28. This is to be a WRITTEN response, not emailed.
Pope Francis spoke to Congress about the religious and political situations and problems in the world. He framed his remarks within the ‘historical memory of our people’ by recalling the Americans Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton (‘three sons and a daughter of this land’ he called them).
What did Pope Francis have to say about the following?
1. The refugee crisis; did he have any particular spiritual guidance or examples to offer for dealing with this situation?
2. He mentions Dorothy Day; who is she and how does he connect her work with his ideas/concerns about the earth/environment?
3. He discusses Thomas Merton; who is he and reflect upon why do you think Merton, ‘as a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions’ might have gotten the Pope’s attention at this moment. To be clear, Father Merton is not alive, but read over the Pope’s remarks about him and think about why might Pope Francis mention him at this point in time?