Pope Francis Skirts Environmental Tussles in Address to Congress

In his address to a joint session of Congress, Pope Francis, speaking quietly and carefully, proved that one need not be stentorian or shrill to be memorable.  He also proved that he is as adept at navigating political environments as he was impassioned about defending the global environment in his encyclical.

Words like carbon, climate and ecology were absent from his speech (read it in full here).   He's wisely saving that message for the United Nations on Friday.

Francis clearly tried to disarm those accusing him of being anti-capitalist.  (George Will was the most strident case in point on Sunday).  This passage says it's fine to extract resources and profit from them, but to do so in the “right” and “proper” way:

It goes without saying that part of this great effort is the creation and distribution of wealth.  The right use of natural resources, the proper application of technology and the harnessing of the spirit of enterprise are essential elements of an economy which seeks to be modern, inclusive and sustainable.

In a special annotation of the speech by reporters for The Times, Jim Yardley (the Rome bureau chief) focused on this passage, as well:

Francis' blunt critique of the excesses of capitalism have brought him some criticism in the United States.  Earlier in year, he famously compared the excesses of capitalism as “dung” of the devil.  He was much more understated in Congress but he didn't shy away from raising the issue.  He praised business as “a noble vocation” and hailed the progress already made to end poverty.  But he also noted that the fight against poverty “must be fought constantly.”

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