Congress

Rep. John Boehner became the 53rd speaker of the House in 2011. His tenure has been marked by fierce confrontations with Democrats and sometimes his own party.

Being Speaker of the House is a thankless job these days. A public that distrusts Washington and a sharply polarized Congress helped make it particularly hard for John Boehner.

Pennsylvania Democrat Bob Brady eyed Pope Francis' water during the pontiff's congressional address. When Francis left it, Brady took it, brought it back to his office and drank it.

In truth, no one has ever defined the borderline between respect for religion, which is clearly part of the American culture, and slavish fealty to any given church or creed.

House Speaker John Boehner announced he is stepping down at the end of October. Rank-and-file conservatives reacted with glee — again highlighting the sharp GOP divide.

The pope spoke for 51 minutes before Congress and read his speech verbatim from prepared remarks. That is, except for one line he omitted about politics not being "a slave to the economy and finance."

The speech had something for everyone. It had several lines that might have made members of both parties uncomfortable — but mostly Republicans.

In a nearly hourlong speech, Pope Francis called for action on climate change, encouraged empathy for immigrants and advocated for the poor. He also said he supports abolishing the death penalty.

There are more Catholic Republicans than ever running for president, but not all have embraced Pope Francis' more liberal statements and theology.

The popular pope has challenged U.S. political orthodoxy — on both sides of the aisle.