No Pope has ever spoken to the Congress before, but the Speaker thinks that it’s fine to offer him a uniquely high honor (and violate the separation of church and state) even though the nation is still majority Protestant (52 percent, more than double the number of Catholics).

What is the purpose of the invitation? Is the Pope supposed to provide some sort of moral guidance to Americans? Really? The Vatican and its local outlets have been mired for decades in the pedophile priest sex abuse scandal, which is still going on: a Google News search (1 month) for Pedophile Priest on March 15 got 513 results. The Kansas City Diocese currently has more than two dozen sexual abuse lawsuits pending. Powerful (retired) Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony has recently been more thoroughly outed as protecting pedophile priests, with the result that his “moral authority” has been eroded, according to the curiously friendly LA Times.

The situation at the Vatican is not much better, where its famously corrupt bank is facing reform from recent actions by the Pope, although the bank has been remarkably stubborn in its criminality. A recent Frontline episode, Secrets of the Vatican, included a jawdrop litany of various degeneracy and corruption.

Seriously, who thinks any official from the Catholic church can claim moral authority?

The new Pope has been on the job for a year and has gotten praise for his kindness and rejection of the church’s lavish riches. Many in the press loved his first foreign trip, a visit to Lampedusa the southerly island outpost of Italy, where he welcomed Africans fleeing their homelands in search of a European lifestyle.

Okay, Pope Francis is a globalist who doesn’t mind that Europe has a problem with demanding African “refugees”; after all, he is an Argentine.

Worse, the Pope is clearly naive about Islam, writing last fall that “authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.”

On the contrary, the Koran is full of urging to smite the infidel whenever possible, containing at least 109 verses of such instruction. Pope Benedict was more realistic about the historic violence of Islam.

Allowing the Pope to address Congress is another instance of history being disregarded, specifically the fact that many of America’s early settlers came to escape the tyranny of the Vatican. One example is the Protestant Salzburgers who came to Georgia after thousands were expelled from the homes in Germany by the Catholic archbishop. In addition, the better known Puritans came to escape the Church of England, which they thought retained too many elements of Catholicism.

Let’s hope Francis doesn’t lecture the Congress on amnesty for illegal aliens, but it’s a lead-pipe cinch that he will. Catholic elites believe that “Any family in economic need has a right to immigrate,” which is arguably more Marx than Jesus, but the men in cassocks never tire of demanding amnesty.

Boehner invites Pope Francis to address Congress, USA Today, March 13, 2014

WASHINGTON — House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, extended a formal and open invitation Thursday to Pope Francis to address a joint meeting of Congress.

If the pontiff accepts, it would be unprecedented. No pope or religious leader that serves as a head of state has ever addressed Congress, according to the U.S. House Historian’s office.

“His address as a visiting head of state before a joint meeting of the House and Senate would honor our nation in keeping with the best traditions of our democratic institutions,” Boehner said in a statement. ” It would also offer an excellent opportunity for the American people as well as the nations of the world to hear his message in full.”

Boehner, who is Catholic, said Pope Francis has inspired millions of Americans with his “pastoral manner and servant leadership” to reflect on matters of human dignity, freedom and social justice.

“These principles are among the fundamentals of the American idea,” Boehner said, “and though our nation sometimes fails to live up to these principles, at our best, we give them new life as we seek the common good.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also a Catholic, said she joined welcoming Pope Francis to address Congress. Pelosi attended his inauguration at the Vatican and praised him as “a moral force.”

Thursday marks one year since the papal conclave elected Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, after the resignation of Pope Benedict.

Francis marked the occasion on his @Pontifex Twitter account with a simple message to his 3.7 million followers: “Please pray for me.”