“Pope Francis’ visit to our nation’s Capitol was a truly historic event. His address to Congress was greatly welcomed by many of my colleagues as we put aside our partisan politics to listen to a world leader on peace. I invited a number of my constituents to listen and take part in this momentous occasion as I believe in building peace and understanding in order to make our nation fair and prosperous for everyone. Pope Francis has brought people with different ideologies together to talk about our most pressing issues, such as immigration and social inequalities. But, regardless of religion, I believe Pope Francis’ commitment to peace, goodwill and the Golden Rule is something that all of us should adhere to.

“Pope Francis’ stances on  the key issues of our time transcend the political boxes we often place ourselves into, but they carry clear lessons for politicians in the U.S. and across the world. The pope’s emphasis on our social responsibility to do good for our communities is a clear call to action that we cannot ignore. As a practicing Roman Catholic, I found particularly moving His Holiness’ exhortation to legislate justly and with compassion for everyone in our society.

“A running theme throughout the pope’s address was the need for greater dialogue. At a time of fractured relations between both parties in Congress, and between so many different groups outside Washington, I hope that all my colleagues take His Holiness’ address to heart.

“As Pope Francis outlined in his address to a joint meeting of Congress today, dialogue can help us confront some of our world’s greatest problems: hostility, violence, poverty and discrimination in all its many forms. As the pope stated, we have seen some of these problems manifest themselves in the discussion over immigration in this country as well as the fight for civil rights. Pope Francis reminded us that most of us in this country are the descendants of immigrants and that we should respect the rights of everyone; ‘We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners, because most of us were once foreigners.’ Another one of His Holiness’ statements really resonated with me, ‘If we want security, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities.’

“If there is one lesson we can all take away from His Holiness’ address today, it is the need to treat our neighbors as full equals, deserving of our full respect and compassion. Throughout His Holiness’ address, he invoked the Golden Rule and its application to so many of our greatest conflicts. By implementing the Golden Rule, perhaps we can find a way to alleviate hunger, poverty, discrimination and increase economic equality.