Tennessee U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03) led a bipartisan letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA-04) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-08) this week requesting that Pope Leo XIV be formally invited to address a Joint Session of Congress.
On May 8, Cardinal Robert Prevost, born in Chicago, Illinois, and studied at Villanova University, was elected as the first U.S.-born pontiff and chose to take the name Pope Leo XIV.
In the letter to House leadership, Fleischmann called the election of the first U.S.-born pontiff “a moment of profound historic significance for the Catholic Church and our nation,” emphasizing how an address from Pope Leo XIV would “not only honor the historic nature of His Holiness’ papacy but the ideals that bind us as a nation.”
Pope Leo XIV's election to the papacy is a historic and momentous occasion not just for Catholics across the United States but for all Americans.
I'm proud to lead a bipartisan letter to @SpeakerJohnson and @RepJeffries to invite @Pontifex to address a Joint Session of Congress. pic.twitter.com/d0QNDKGLT7
— Chuck Fleischmann (@RepChuck) May 14, 2025
“Pope Leo XIV’s life and ministry, shaped in part by his experiences in our own nation, equip him with a voice that speaks not only to Catholics, but to people of all faiths and backgrounds,” the letter said.
“During a time when our nation needs unifying and the world faces severe humanitarian crises, an address by his Holiness would serve as a powerful reminder of our shared commitments to peace, service to others, and moral leadership. It would also affirm the deep and longstanding ties between the United States, The Holy See, and the global Catholic community,” the letter added.
U.S. Representatives Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA-11), Kimberlyn King-Hinds (R-MP-At Large), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX-34), Stephanie Bice (R-OK-05), Juan Vargas (D-CA-52), Ted W. Lieu (D-CA-36), Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ-04), Mark B. Messmer (R-IN-08), Mariannette J. Miller-Meeks (R-IA-01), Laura A. Gillen (D-NY-04), and George Latimer (D-NY-16) joined Fleischmann in sending the letter.
“I thank my bipartisan colleagues and Speaker Johnson and Leader Jeffries for joining me in this united effort to honor and celebrate the beginning of Pope Leo XIV’s historic papacy,” Fleischmann said in a statement.
On September 24, 2015, Pope Francis became the first pontiff to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Chuck Fleischmann is such a disappointment and a wasted representative. The only things he gets excited about are ones that have no benefit whatsoever. Hey Chucky, how about getting the Chickamauga locks completed, they started the job when he was still in high school. Worry about SE Tennessee and not the Vatican, you clown.