Pope's 'spirit of cooperation' message lands with thud in Congress

That didn't take long.

Pope Francis had barely exited the House chambers Thursday by the time his plea for a "spirit of cooperation" collided with a bitterly divided Congress just days away from shutting down the federal government.

Kind words certainly flowed from both parties. But lawmakers were quick to massage the pope's message to fit their own ideology – and ignore the parts of his address they didn't agree with. Between his entreaties on immigration, climate change, abortion and arms sales, the pope gave partisans on both sides of the aisle enough to fit their purposes – and they did.

All in all, it's probably safe to say the historic papal address — as emotional as it was for some members of Congress — isn't going to change many minds in Washington on the acrimonious debates of the day.

"Folks who feel strongly about these [issues] are not going to change their positions. They have a great deal of respect for the pope but I don't see any likelihood that it will change voting patterns up here," Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole said.

He added, "Hopefully it changes demeanor and tone."

It's not likely.

Right after Pope Francis departed Capitol Hill, the White House issued a veto threat for any stop-gap funding bill that includes provisions to defund Planned Parenthood. But Republicans took heart in the pope's call "to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development."

"Let it be known that His Holiness came to Congress and called for safeguarding religious freedoms, protecting marriage and the family and defending human life," said Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas). "I sincerely hope President Obama and my colleagues take this reminder to heart as they continue to justify federal funding for an organization that has proven to show complete carelessness and disregard for human life."

And Democrats were quick to point to the pope's call to lift the poor.

"I was glad to hear His Holiness remind Congress of our duty to the most vulnerable in our society by continuing the fight against poverty and working to ensure that our economic policies foster real opportunities for workers and their families to pursue the American Dream," said Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, (D-Md.)

The speech earned Pope Francis more than three dozen pauses for applause, including standing ovations for his call to welcome migrants and refugees and a push to defend life "at every stage of its development."

But with the exception of lines in which he praised the culture of the U.S. or historical figures, many of the most spirited responses to his proposals were along party lines. New York Democrat Rep. Lydia Velasquez let out an audible "whoop" when the pope called for an abolishment of the death penalty. And two leading Republicans, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), remained seated during a standing ovation cheering on the need for an aggressive response to climate change.

"It was a speech about humanity more than politics," said Connecticut Democrat Rep. John Larson. "It was a speech about morality — and I think people can read into either side of that, whatever their side wants to."

Despite the overtly political messages in Pope Francis' speech, members on both sides of the aisle were clearly moved by his presence on Capitol Hill.

Lawmakers lined up before the doors open at 8 a.m. to get prime seats. Many took selfies on the House floor to celebrate the occasion and at least a dozen lawmakers were snapping photos during the pope's address.

The famously emotional Speaker John Boehner, a devout Catholic, was visibly tearing when he first encountered Pope Francis before the joint address.
But it was back to politics as usual soon after the pope left the building.

Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas) argued that the pope seemingly backtracked from his strong message on climate change earlier in a proclamation from the Vacation. In that encyclical, the Pope said the scientific community was in agreement over the cause of climate change.

"If you look at paragraph 23 of his encyclical he says there is a scientific consensus," Huelskamp said. "He didn't say that here. He backed off paragraph 23."