If readers weren’t made aware already by the wall-to-wall coverage, Pope Francis was recently in Washington, D.C., where he met with the president, addressed Congress, and canonized a saint (Junípero Serra) at a mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. While local traffic experts predicted gridlock and mayhem, The Scrapbook bucked the conventional wisdom and commuted to The Weekly Standard offices with amazing ease—so much so, that it almost felt sinful.
And speaking of sinful . . . we were astonished to read that after the pontiff’s address to Congress, Rep. Bob Brady, a Catholic, stole the pope’s half-full water glass from the podium. Brady is apparently a proud, repeat offender: He did the same with President Obama’s water glass after his first inauguration. The Washington Post reports that Brady had the Philadelphia police test the glass for Obama’s fingerprints, so it would be authenticated. (Perhaps for a future eBay auction?)
If that’s not weird enough, consider what Brady did after stealing the pope’s drink:
Brady saved some of the water, and, according to the Post, he is “sending [the glass] to forensics to be dusted for prints. (Really.)” He told the Post he plans to use the remaining water “to bless his grandchildren.” When a reporter noted that the water is not technically holy water, Brady responded: “Anything the pope touches becomes blessed. I think so and no one is going to change my mind.”
Don’t think from Brady’s peculiar views that he is any kind of doctrinaire Catholic. Brady in fact is solidly pro-choice, having voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, and others. The National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) gives him a rating of 100 percent.
Here’s hoping that a few more sips from the papal drinking glass might change his mind.
