Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life

Perhaps you’ve heard: Pope Francis is coming to Washington. Some people have been talking about this for months. Popes have come before, but this trip is different. Pope Francis has never set foot in the United States. Washington thinks it is the center of the world, but it is not the center of Pope Francis’ world. He is more at home in slums than in the corridors of power.

This column is about broken precedents. Presidents don’t do panels. This president doesn’t talk about “poverty.” Coverage of Catholic and evangelical public policy collaboration focuses on abortion and marriage. Columnists don’t write about events they help organize. And news is what happened an hour ago or a day ago, not a month ago.