Recently Pope Francis made a visit to Washington D.C.  He was, by most accounts, welcomed to the United States capitol by enthusiastic crowds wherever he went.  One place he went, however, didn't show as much enthusiasm and that was when he addressed Congress.  The Pope made remarks regarding many things including the issue of Mexican immigration and Syrian refugees, both of which are hot button topics right now with the Obama administration and with Republican congresspeople and presidential candidates alike.  The Pope also commented on climate change and U.S.-Cuban relations.  These topics seem to be more politically charged right now than they have in the past with a Republican controlled House and a Democratic president in office making the Popes comments seem a bit more political in nature than humanitarian and in fact, President Obama has said that Pope Francis played a big role in helping to influence the recent change in U.S.-Cuban relations.
     The Popes visit to Congress has coincided with the resignation of Speaker John Boehner who is believed to have asked the Pope to pray for him before he gave his resignation speech.  The religious conservative right seemed to be surprised that the Pope has been supportive of the Obama administration and their immigration policies as well as supportive of discussing climate change.  The Popes remarks have sparked more debate between the conservative right and the liberal left with members of the Republican party now accusing the Democrats of accepting God only now that the Pope has chosen to take a more political stance on certain issues.  The fact that the Catholic church and the Pope are against abortion and many on the left believe in a womans right to choose seem to put the Pope and the left at odds, but that doesn't seem to be an issue right now with many Democrats, including 18 city mayors going so far as to pledge that they will open their cities to Syrian refugees.