PHILADELPHIA >> U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-PA, called Pope Francis’ visit to Philadelphia an honor and privilege.
“We’re just so honored and blessed to have him here,” Casey, who is Catholic, said. “I was honored to be in Washington in the two days he was there to be able to go to some of the events there. That, in and of, itself would have been a great thrill, but to have him in my home state is a great privilege.”
The reason people are attracted to the pope, Casey said, is because of his affirmative and inclusive personality. The pope’s ability to deliver tough messages is done in a way that acknowledges the difficulty of solving problems, but it doesn’t absolve anyone from not tackling them anyway.
“He’s the kind of guy who’s there with you,” he said. “You get a sense that he’s willing to get in the ditch and dig while you’re trying to dig out of a problem. I think people appreciate his warmth and his approach in a very personal way as opposed to a distant leader who just recites rules.”
Casey said Pope Francis takes the idea of service as part of his ministry very seriously.
“I think he believes that his work as a servant is to go directly to people that are vulnerable, directly to people that need the most help,” he said, “literally bypassing the powerful to get to the powerless.”
Asked what message he would like Pope Francis to deliver during his stay in Philadelphia, Casey said he hoped he’d reiterate his reminder of our responsibility and obligation to face challenges head on rather than run away from them.
“He basically said to me the other day, and I think to everyone else in that chamber, who has a vote in the House or the Senate, ‘You’re part of a great institution,'” Casey said. “You’re part of a country that has solved big problems for generations. You’ve got problems again. You’ve got to solve them again. The only way you can solve them is to cooperate for the common good.”
Pope Francis’ message of cooperating for the common good wasn’t something he or his colleagues could walk away from as legislators, the senator said.
“You can’t walk away and say, well it’s because I disagree with this or that,” he said. “He said that no matter what you believe on these issues, you’ve got to cooperate for the common good. I would hope that would be a message, not only for the Congress, but for all of us as citizens.”
