In the halls of Congress- Under Moses’ gaze

The Pope was met with a
standing ovation, applause and cheering when he entered the US Congress on
Thursday, 23 September. Introduced as “The Pope of the Holy See”, Francis
received a warm welcome as the first pope to visit the place. 

Indeed the Pope’s
address was interrupted 36 times due to applause — a sign of the audiences’ attention and
often, though not always unanimous, agreement –
beginning with when he expressed his gratitude for the invitation to
address “the land of the free and home of the brave”. As the Pope spoke,
thousands of people outside watched on megascreens near the West Wing, which,
since Ronald Regan’s presidency, has been the site of the presidential
inauguration.

According to protocol, the only individual to speak was
the Pontiff, who delivered his address in English. Across from him was a
medallion of Moses, surrounded by other medallions profiling the country’s
great legislators. However the figure of Moses is the only one in the hall
which directly faces the speaker. Indeed, the Pope referred to the prophet at
the beginning of his speech, underlining that the Biblical figure represents
the job of politicians to defend man by way of the law. 

Gaetano Vallini