But New Yorker Kelly Moltzen was also listening and was also inspired.
“It is a voice of encouragement,” Moltzen said when the Pope finished speaking Friday morning. ”You can go back to what the Pope’s words were.”
Moltzen works in public health among some of New Yorks poorest people in the Bronx. In the neighbourhoods around her office the diseases of poverty, obesity, hypertension, attention deficit disorder and asthma abound. Moltzen’s daily grind has her focused on children and immigrants living in difficult situations.
She believes the Pope was speaking on behalf of her clients both in Washington and New York. From religious freedom to the right to education to the concentration of power and money, Moltzen felt the Pope said “What they believe is right and necessary for their families.”
Moltzen was impressed by how Pope Francis emphasized the universality of values such as the intrinsic value of the natural environment.
”He’s speaking on behalf of the Church, but like he said, a lot of these things are found in other traditions as well,” she said. “I’m glad he mentioned that in all religions environment is a fundamental good. It emphasizes that there is universal support.”
When Francis spoke of a grave summons to an examination of conscience on the part of those charged with the conduct of international affairs, Moltzen was right with him.
“We just need to reframe within the UN as well as congress where we are putting the emphasis. There is so much money put into war,” she said.
Read our complete coverage of the Pope's historic visit to the United States of America.