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Still, Francis will likely please the GOP on other fronts. He’s expected to touch on the need to end abortion, defend traditional marriage and protect religious liberty, even if he uses opaque terms. As the threat of a government shutdown looms, Francis also may discuss the need for bipartisanship, though he’ll likely use a term such as “political unity.” (Toosi, 9/24)

Pope Francis, who will address a joint session of Congress on Thursday, is pushing Catholic hospitals and clinics to increase their free health care to the poor as many House and Senate Republicans try to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, which provided health coverage to millions of low-income Americans. Anthony Tersigni, CEO of St. Louis-based Ascension — the largest non-profit health system in the USA — will be in the gallery during the pope's address. Tersigni, who chairs the International Association of Catholic Hospitals, will meet with Francis in the Vatican in November to discuss the pope's push to get Catholic-owned health care providers to do more to help the poor. (O'Donnell and Ungar, 9/23)

Pope Francis on Wednesday made an unscheduled stop to a convent of nuns to show his support for their lawsuit against U.S. President Barack Obama's healthcare law. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the visit to the convent of the Little Sisters of the Poor for what he called a "brief but symbolic visit." Last August, a federal appeals court in Denver put on hold its ruling that the order of Roman Catholic nuns must comply with a contraception mandate in the law, giving the group time to petition the U.S. Supreme Court. (9/23)