Pope Francis' Visit To The United States And The True Focus Of International Unity--Madeleine Norton, 4th period

Everyone seems to be busy with newly-come autumn chores: cleaning the house, stocking up the cupboards for Halloween and Thanksgiving, beginning even to rake up the few fallen leaves beautifully littering the ground. However, America itself has been sprucing up for an incredibly important visitor of the Roman Catholic Church... Pope Francis!

Not only is the news thrilling because the treat of having popes who often visit America brings back a sense of spiritualism and international unity, but Francis himself has never set foot on our nation's soil before. And to apprise hungry readers, Laurie Goodstein of The New York Times takes an interesting spin on the largely talked-up excitement inputting information concerning the background of the trip. Goodstein further divulges into explaining why Francis might be a little anxious upon arriving in the U.S., reasoning that those who have come to know Francis both before and after his becoming pope would assume "his absence have everything to do with his distinctive identity. He is a Latin American critical of the United States’ economic and political hegemony, a Jesuit of Italian ancestry who looks more to Europe than to North America, a Spanish speaker who is not all that comfortable speaking English, and a pastor who disdains 'airport bishops' — his term for prelates who spend more time jetting around the globe than serving in their dioceses." 

It is also believed that because of his disapproving views on America's deep rooted consumerism, he will most likely speak kindly of our nation's benefits but imply that "...From those to whom much is given, much is expected." Francis could not be more correct: America, although passionate on democratic and independent nations free to let their people decide what is best for the majority, we also have had a historic habit of letting that ideal ingrain itself too closely to our minds. Often that vision blinds us from the true purpose of helping other, less fortunate nations and we find ourselves turning our backs on countries in dire need of our assistance. It is our duty as citizens in a country with so much freedom help in any way we can to those who have not had the luck to be born under the starry, striped flag. In light of Francis' landing and speech to America, I hope that even more of us can open our eyes and minds to the unity of this world we all share and strive to make it a better place for all of us on it, not simply the more privileged few.


The article below delves into a deeper description of the Pope's arrival and the reasoning behind why it has taken him as long as it has to travel to America:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/06/us/pope-francis-is-coming-to-america-after-avoiding-it-for-78-years.html?_r=0