Washington
Mission of Love, Mercy
OCTOBER 1, 2015 • THE MONITOR
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d.c.
Washington rolls out
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red carpet for Vicar of Christ PAPAL APPROVAL • Pope Francis gives a thumbs up to the crowd as he rides down Constitution Avenue in his popemobile in Washington Sept. 23, on his first full day visiting the United States. CNS photo/Gary Cameron, Reuters
STARS, STRIPES, AND THE KEYS OF ST. PETER • Pope Francis attends welcoming ceremony with U.S. President Barack Obama on the South Lawn of White House in Washington Sept. 23. CNS/L’Osservatore Romano photo
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rom the moment Pope Francis left Joint Base Andrews in a small black Fiat, it was clear that this visiting head of state was going to meet Washington, D.C., on his own terms. A brilliant blue sky greeted the Pope and President Barack Obama on Wednesday, Sept. 23, for the official welcoming ceremony. 11,000 ticketed guests, hundreds of musicians and White House staff, an honor guard and a national viewing audience watched Pope Francis speak on the South Lawn, flanked by the flags of the Holy See and the United States. “American Catholics are committed,” Pope Francis said, in halting but clear English, “to building a society which is truly tolerant and inclusive, to safeguarding the rights of individuals and communities, and to rejecting every form of unjust
WARM GREETING •
discrimination. With countless other people of good will, they are likewise concerned that efforts to build a just and wisely ordered society respect their deepest concerns and their right to religious liberty. That freedom remains one of America’s most precious possessions.” The Pope also referenced his recent encyclical Laudato Si’ (“Praised Be You”) in complimenting the White House’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encouraged the United States to “make the changes needed to bring about “‘a sustainable and integral development’.” Following a meeting with the President and Mrs. Obama, the Pope drove past a crowd of admirers who had gathered hours before to watch his motorcade leave the Ellipse, drive down Constitution Avenue, and take him to St. Matthew the Apostle Cathedral.
Pope Francis, U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama wave from the south portico of the White House in Washington Sept. 23. An estimated 20,000 persons gathered on the South Lawn for a brief ceremony with the Pope. CNS photo/Paul Haring
Father Lambeth goes to Washington...for the Pope By David Karas Correspondent
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ather K. Michael Lambeth, pastor of St. Theresa Parish, Little Egg Harbor, was driving back to his parish after visiting someone at the hospital this past August when he received a unique call from parish coordinator Cathy Mazanek. “The president has just called you,” she told him. “I said, ‘the president of what’?” Father Lambeth recalled. Mazanek clarified that it was the President of the United States who had dropped him a line on the parish phone. “I said, ‘what did he want’?” he recalled, chuckling. President Barack Obama was calling the pastor in response to a letter he had written to the White House on Memorial Day, expressing his concerns related to a speech that the president had delivered during the ceremonial laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. The former third class signal-
SIGHT TO BEHOLD • Father Mick Lambeth captures a view of the throng gathered at the White House for the welcome ceremony. Photo courtesy of Father Mick Lambeth man in the United States Navy, and a veteran of the Vietnam War, couldn’t help but take notice when President Obama singled out veterans from
World War II and conflicts in the Middle East, while glossing over the “jungle” warfare of the nation’s past without the same level of acknowl-
edgement. The omission reminded Father Lambeth of the all-too-often oversights that plague his fellow veterans, and so he wrote the White House Father K. Michael to express his Lambeth thoughts. “I continue to be disappointed in the manner American society seems to have in disregarding or turning their backs on my brothers who served in Vietnam,” he wrote in his words to the president – intended, he said, not to be angry, but merely to share his reaction. His letter included remarks on the profound impact that military service had on the young draftee, and on how he continues to pray for President Obama each day. “I never expected to hear anything See Letter • 13