In milestone event, Pope Francis will address Congress this fall

WASHINGTON – In a landmark event that could have many holding their breath, Pope Francis has agreed to address a joint meeting of Congress this fall. That sets the stage for an oration by an outspoken pontiff whose views on immigration and global warming clash with those of many Republicans who run the House and Senate.

Francis will speak Sept. 24, marking the first time the head of the world’s Roman Catholics will address Congress. It will come during the first U.S. visit of Francis’ 2-year-old papacy, a trip also expected to include a White House meeting with President Barack Obama, a speech to the United Nations in New York and a Catholic rally for families in Philadelphia.

Saying he had “a bit of good news,” House Speaker John Boehner delivered first word of Francis’ speech at his weekly news conference Thursday.

“We’re humbled that the Holy Father has accepted our invitation and certainly look forward to receiving his message on behalf of the American people,” Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a written statement that she looks forward to “hearing his call to live our values, to protect the poor and the needy, and to promote peace.”

When he speaks to lawmakers, Francis will address a Congress that is 31 percent Catholic, well above the 22 percent of all Americans, according to a survey released last month by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Boehner and Pelosi are Catholic.

Francis, an Argentinian Jesuit and the first pope from the Western Hemisphere, has made helping immigrants a cornerstone of his papacy and has called on wealthy nations to do more for the poor.

By this summer, he also plans to release an encyclical, or teaching document, on climate change, which he says is mostly man-made. He plans to use his trip to the U.S. to urge world leaders to take bold steps to curb global warming ahead of this fall’s U.N. climate change conference in Paris.

Boehner’s announcement follows his controversial invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will address Congress about Iran on March 3. Boehner made that offer without consulting Obama. Three House Democrats say they’ll skip the speech, including Reps. John Lewis of Georgia and Earl Blumenauer of Oregon.