As Pope Francis addressed Congress in Washington, D.C. on Thursday morning, about 200 guests were viewing the speech on a large monitor inside the Science Hall at Canisius College.
The viewing party was attended by students and faculty, some of whom will be traveling to Philadelphia to see the pope up close over the weekend. Chanel Davis, a junior at Canisius, was among the students selected by lottery to join the delegation. She says the excitement will be "crazy" when they arrive in Philly, and "I'll be adding to it."
"Really, I just identify so much with how progressive he is and how he's trying to move the Catholic Church forward, with a lot of the ways that other progressive organizations and communities are doing as well," she said.
The pope's speech covered topics including helping the poor, protecting human life at all stages (including an abolishment of the death penalty worldwide), protecting the environment, showing compassion for refugees and immigrants and strengthening the family unit.
While this pope is considered by many to be a more progressive pope than his most immediate predecessors, Benedict XVI and Saint John Paul II, the message he delivered on Capitol Hill is consistent with a Catholic message that is unchanged for more than 100 years, said Father Michael Francis Tunney, Director of Mission and Identity and a professor of fine arts at Canisius.
"We don't always understand that, especially with all the political division in our country," Father Tunney told reporters. "But the man, while political in his sensibilities because he's dealing and speaking to the body politic, he is first and foremost a pastor and a witness to the Gospel, the good news of Jesus."
Organizers had some fun with the event, handing out bingo cards on which participants could check off squares if and when Pope Francis made a certain point. The backs of the cards, though, offered a link to a more serious message which has been part of this pope's agenda, social justice. The Ignatian Solidarity Network produced the cards.
