Pope hits right notes in Congress: Our view Neither partisan nor castigating, Francis left lawmakers with much to think about.

The Editorial Board | USA Today

To those uncomfortable with Pope Francis’ forays into such worldly matters as climate change and immigration, the common criticism is that he is too secular, even political.

That assessment is unfair. As his eloquent speech to Congress on Thursday demonstrated, the pope can make a strong moral case for everything he is advocating. A moral society, he argued, opens its arms to refugees because it believes in the Golden Rule, the biblical principle that people should treat others as they would like to be treated. Similarly, a moral society acts to combat human-caused climate change to protect what he called humanity’s “common home.”

Francis does not bring these things up because he likes to meddle in secular affairs or because he has political ambitions. In fact, in his soft-spoken style and broken English, he might well have been the most humble speaker ever to address a joint session of Congress. He brings these issues up because he feels he has to.

His speech hit the right notes. Neither partisan nor castigating, it left members of Congress with much to think about.

Francis carefully tiptoed around some controversies while being more forceful on others. His only apparent reference to the proposed Iran deal and the rapprochement with Cuba, both of which he supports, was a line praising “efforts made in recent months to overcome historic differences linked to painful episodes of the past.” His only reference to the church’s longstanding opposition to abortion was a call to “protect and defend human life at every stage of its development.”

Of course, there is a political dimension to much of what he says and does. Popes, and the churches they represent, are not mere abstractions concerned solely about transubstantiation or the events of two millennia ago. Nor, as Francis has emphasized more than other recent popes, are they merely in the business of enforcing church doctrine.

Popes are deeply involved in issues of war and peace, poverty and justice. They always have been, and always will be. Particularly during times like these, with growing strife throughout much of the world, it’s impossible not to wage moral campaigns that intersect with the secular world.

Francis is certainly no more political or secular than Urban II, who initiated the Crusades to thwart the advance of Muslims in the Byzantine Empire and to retake the holy city of Jerusalem. And he is no more political or secular than John Paul II, who formed an alliance with President Reagan to undermine Soviet ambitions in Eastern Europe.

Whether you agree or disagree with him on specific issues, Pope Francis is an enormously powerful force for good. Many of the things he champions are of common interest to people of all faiths. His speech was a welcome call to Congress, a body too often consumed by endless partisan infighting, to listen to the better angels of its nature.

USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.

To read more editorials, go to the Opinion front page or sign up for the daily Opinion e-mail newsletter.