Pope to Congress: No applause between movements
mainThe big issue of the day is whether Congressmen and women should rise to applaud when the Pope pauses for breath in his inaugural address on September 24.
Everything, it appears, is political. Here’s the tenor of debate in the Catholic press:
Is a papal address to Congress like a symphony or an opera? If it is a symphony, then members of Congress should sit quietly through the address until the pope finishes. You do not applaud during a symphony, even between movements. If it is opera, then the members would be permitted to jump up and applaud whenever they think the pope hits the right note.
In the political theater that is Washington, this distinction really matters. The state of the union address is clearly opera with the president’s party responding to applause lines. Should this be the model for the pope’s address to a joint session of Congress on September 24? The general consensus is that the Democrats are better off if the papal address is treated like an opera while the Republicans would be better off with a symphony.
Read on here.
“If it is opera, then the members would be permitted to jump up and applaud whenever they think the pope hits the right note.”
Oh, yes! Especially in Parsifal.
What was that Lech Walesa speech to Congress ? He said just a couple of words “we the people” and got an ovation
Thee is very little spontaneity about Congressional applause. The Congress is more politically attuned than most presidents. To say it is “orchestrated” by the parties is to belabour the metaphor.
He’ll be lucky if the right side of the aisle doesn’t boo, hiss, and jeer like a La Scala claque.
What is amazing about Pope Francis is that he is not afraid to mingle in the crowds. He seems to not worry about any assassination attempts
Chris
Owner CEL Financial Services
Income Tax Preparation Fillmore