UNITED STATES
Lowell Sun
By Todd Feathers, tfeathers@lowellsun.com
Over the past three decades, papal visits to the United States have been colored by shrinking participation in the Roman Catholic Church, the priest sexual-abuse scandal, and social issues that have at times illuminated fault lines between many American Catholics and the Vatican.
As Pope Francis begins his first visit to the country in Washington, D.C., today, few of those divides have been definitively resolved. But theologians and local Catholics said a change in the atmosphere is palpable as they prepare for a visit that could be equal parts shocking, refreshing and reaffirming to the American Catholic system.
“We might be surprised by how pointed he is when he speaks to the joint session of Congress and the U.N.,” said Daniel J. Daly, chair of the Saint Anselm College Theology Department.
“People will be uncomfortable but it won’t be because he’ll be talking about abortion and physician-assisted suicide, but because he’ll be talking about suffering and mercy.”
In terms of his position on issues such as gay marriage, abortion, and contraception, Pope Francis shares the doctrinal views of his predecessors, Daly added. But in his teachings, the Argentinean has chosen to emphasize economic inequality, environmentalism, and other themes of shared humanity.
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