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 Francis, who arrived Tuesday in Washington on a U.S. trip that
also will take him to New York and Philadelphia, is set to become
the first pope to address a joint meeting of the Senate and House of
Representatives at 9:20 a.m. EDT.
The pope is expected to address climate change as well as the need
to help migrants fleeing wars, international efforts to resolve
conflicts, the U.S. role in helping poorer nations, religious
freedom and the "right to life" issues of abortion and euthanasia.
The pope met privately with Obama at the White House on Tuesday,
called the Democratic president's efforts against air pollution
"encouraging" and said climate change is a problem the world can no
longer leave to future generations to address.
In the first papal encyclical dedicated to the environment, Francis
in June called for "decisive action" to stop environmental
degradation and global warming, squarely backing scientists who say
it is mostly man-made.
 Global warming is blamed by almost all experts on man-made
greenhouse gas emissions, although many U.S. Republicans including
some of those running for president in 2016 have heaped doubt on
that view.
In an example of Republican wariness of the pope's climate change
stance, a conservative Republican U.S. congressman, Paul Gosar of
Arizona, has said he will boycott the address over the pope's views
on climate change.
Gosar said on Wednesday he did not think the pope should "prioritize
climate change over speaking out against religious intolerance
happening across the world."
In an illustration of the views of some U.S. conservatives,
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said that instead of
focusing on the environment, Francis should focus more upon stopping
abortion and protecting religious liberty.
Huckabee has embraced a local government official in Kentucky who
was jailed after defying a court order to issue marriage licenses to
same-sex couples in the aftermath of a Supreme Court ruling
legalizing gay marriage nationwide.
"I'm hopeful the pope will encourage us to stop the killing of one
million American babies each year and end the criminalization of
Christianity in this country, which Obama can control, instead of
global weather patterns, which Obama cannot," Huckabee said.
SON OF IMMIGRANT FAMILY
At a time when leading Republicans are advocating building a wall to
stop illegal immigrants from Latin America cross into the United
States from Mexico, the pope also said he was the "son of an
immigrant family" and that America was "largely built by such
families."
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Republicans have sought to block Obama's actions on immigration,
including a November order lifting the threat of deportation for
millions of illegal immigrants.
Several 2016 U.S. presidential candidates, including Republicans
Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz and Ben Carson, as well as
Democrat Bernie Sanders are due to attend the pope's speech.
Senator John Thune, a member of Senate Republican leadership, said
there may be differences of opinion with the pope but that lawmakers
will try to show him utmost respect.
Thune said that while U.S. lawmakers can learn about mercy,
compassion and forgiveness from the pope, "there are also things
that we hope he can take away from visiting our country for the
first time" such as "recognizing that free enterprise is the
greatest anti-poverty force that the world has ever seen."
The pope's criticism of unbridled capitalism has unsettled many U.S.
conservatives.
After addressing Congress, Francis is due to speak to a group of 200
people served by the Catholic Charities group. Members of the
largely low-income, immigrant group receive medical or mental health
care through the Church-sponsored program.
Following that, the pope is set to go to Joint Base Andrews in
Maryland to fly to New York, where he will attend evening prayer
services at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell, Jeff Mason, Ian Simpson and
Alana Wise; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing by Ken Wills)
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