Mike Pence: “I rise in strong support, along with the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), on behalf of this resolution honoring the…”

“I rise in strong support, along with the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), on behalf of this resolution honoring the life and achievement of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, and expressing profound sorrow upon his death. Mr. Speaker, while I am a United States Representative today, my first public position ever was that of an altar boy at St. Columbus Catholic Church in Columbus, Indiana, so it is with a particular sense of privilege that I rise today in this capacity to recognize the extraordinary life and work of Pope John Paul II. My Catholic faith and that of my entire family continues to remain the bulwark of our world view, and much of that over the past three decades has been invigorated by the leadership and eloquence and courage of this man. Now, many in the national media have commented since the Pope's passing this last Saturday about the nature of his appeal and the source of the international grief that has attended his passing. Many commentators in print and on television have suggested that his appeal is a direct result of his well-schooled public abilities, loosely defined as his charisma. But I rise today in support of this resolution to respectfully disagree with those commentators and to say that I believe Pope John Paul II's appeal on a global scale is grounded in his role as a moral leader; in fact, one of the chief moral leaders on the planet of the 20th century.”