House Speaker John Boehner became teary-eyed both while meeting with Pope Francis in a private meeting early Thursday morning and as the pontiff addressed Congress, tearing up within just minutes after the pope began his historic address.
Boehner first teared up while shaking hands with the pope, and after the pontiff commented on the speaker's green tie, reports
The New York Daily News.
After Pope Francis told Boehner that his green tie was a symbol of "the color of hope," the Ohio lawmaker replied, "We'll need a lot of hope from today.
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And the House speaker, a devout Catholic who has been inviting popes, including Francis, to visit Congress for several years, sat behind the pontiff while he addressed the joint session, wiping his eyes and nose.
Boehner often becomes emotional, earning the nickname of
"Weeper of the House," and wrote an emotional piece on
Medium saying the pope "appeals to our better angels and brings us back to our daily obligations. The best thing we can all do is listen, open our hearts to his message and reflect on his example."
"When you grow up Catholic, you learn about the Pope as a distant figure, closer to God than any of us," he continued on the post. "To have him here, at our Capitol, among our people, is a once-in-a-lifetime moment. A glimpse of grace."
Several news outlets, such as
The Guardian and The Atlantic, have already speculated that the pope would make Boehner cry.
But this isn't the first time the speaker has cried in public. Boehner cried during a
"60 Minutes" interview about the completion of the U.S. Capitol Dome and during a Golf Channel interview.
In 2013, The Daily Beast created a
YouTube montage of some of the speaker's more teary moments.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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