from vernon, new york. .arah is our last caller up next, we will preview the pope's visit to the united states. we will be joined by mary rice hasson of the ethics and policy center. she is a senior fellow there. later, karen mills joins us to discuss a new harvard business school report about some of the potential consequences and remedies regarding income inequality, coming up later on "washington journal." ♪ >> the pope's visit to the u.s. tuesdayas live coverage afternoon beginning at 3:45 on c-span. we are live with the president and mrs. obama to greet the president. the welcoming ceremony for the pope as the obama's welcome him to the white house. live coverage begins at 8:45 eastern. later that afternoon, the at theation and mass basilica of the national shrine. pope francis makes history becoming the first pontiff to address a joint meeting of congress. friday morning at 10:00, live coverage from new york as the pope speaks to the united nations general assembly. later, the pontiff or hold a multi-religious service at the 9/11 memorial and museum world trade center. follow coverage of the pope's u.s. live on tv or online at c-span.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: mary rice hasson joins us to preview the pope's visit and talk about the catholic church. she is a fellow at the catholic women's forum at the ethics and public policy center. what is the forum? guest: a new initiative designed to be a resource to the church but a voice to the culture. raising the voice of catholic women who are faithful to the church. the pope has called for more widespread female presence in the catholic church. what does that mean in practice? ,uest: up until the past decade the conversation about women in the church has focused mostly on should women be priests. the church is closed the door to that. it has sucked up all the air in the room with that conversation. what pope francis is doing is saying, there is something more here. we need women's perspective in every thing we do. he is bringing women into different councils, different consultancy positions. he wants to hear what women have to say. host: how are women being included in decisions on things like contraception, abortion, marriage? does the pope have advisers in the vatican, traditionally a male-dominated space? guest: he has women advisers. hope francis -- pope francis is not going to be changing the teachings of the church. it is more in terms of, how are we going to help people live the teachings more faithfully. how are we going to reach the poor and those who are marginalized in society? that is where he wants women and men to weigh in and hear the ideas and contribute on that level but not in terms of changing the church's teachings. host: what are those ideas you think we will be hearing when the pope comes to the united states? guest: one of the ideas, this is the pope of connection. he connects ideas. the idea for this pope is the human being is more important than anything -- more important than a thing. that is what he is doing when he reaches out to those on the margins. he is saying as a world we tend to throw away not just things but we throw people away. he is going to be challenging people in the u.s. host: the front page of the "boston globe." cuba.pe has been in what sort of preview can we get from this cuba visit? how the pope is going to talk to some of the political figures he is encountering on this visit both to cuba and the united states? guest: this pope is very direct and spontaneous. it is difficult to predict what he's going to say but on the other hand, looking at the cuban experience, he raised two issues. religious liberty. he said there has to be room for the church. you have to make room in terms of space, freedom, giving the church the means to do what it is about, to reach hearts. he's going to raise the issue of religious freedom. he also raised the issue of abortion. he is not mincing around. he is willing to call leaders if he thinks they are not giving priority to human beings. host: we are talking to mary rice hasson. she is a fellow at the catholic women's forum. if you have questions about the pope's visit, we are talking about cultural issues he will be touching on in his trip to the united states. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you said the pope is not changing church teachings. what has changed in the church on the issue of homosexuality ever since that now famous quote he said about gays and lesbians? who am i to judge, was his quote. guest: that quote has been used and what that quote was the statement, he was asked question about a particular priest who apparently was dealing with his own same-sex attractions. he was saying, this person was living a life pleasing to god. he was talking to us catholics about our attitudes. are we avoiding judgment? he is not changing the church's teachings. he's saying the church is full of sinners. when he was asked, he said, i am a sinner. , to realize weus are equal in the sight of god. he is saying come in and let's talk about it. it's help you grow and find that happiness you are seeking. the church has a view on how you do that. host: do you think american catholics are on board with the pope when it comes to corporate issues we are talking about? a poll from the pew research year, noted earlier this american catholics said it was not sinful. 39% said it was not sinful to engage in homosexual behavior. 23% think it is not sinful to have an abortion. guest: some of those questions, there is no nuance. homosexuality, it is not a sin but the church talks about sex, it belongs in the context of marriage between a man and woman. the question is, being gay, that is not what we are talking about . the church is talking about behavior. there is divergence in terms of what the average catholic believes in what the church teaches. i think pope francis is about, let's talk about it. if there is that divergence, part of it because we have alienated people and we have not made our case. we have not try to explain what we mean we're talking about sexuality. host: is it talk about it to change your view or talk about it so we can meet in the middle? guest: it is not a compromise in this sense. the church believes it is the guardian of the truth received from jesus. what jesus says in the bible, what is taught through traditions, is not going to change. bishops will say that is not our job. let's talk about how you live that, how you understand that. you have to know what people's objections are if you will be able to overcome them and help them see. the church needs to do a better job of that. host: will is up first calling in from albany, oregon. you are on with mary rice hasson. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i'm sure pope francis is a nice guy. he seemed that the personable fellow. his opinions on climate change are completely wrong. not -- hering, he is has been -- isn't there somebody at the vatican who understands this? isn't there somebody who can help him get the science right? apparently god is not telling him what the sciences. -- what the science is. with all the problems of climate change, the overpopulation of human beings on this planet. that is the big problem and when the pope stands against antraception, not even taking neutral or advocacy position, that is the most immoral position on earth. he is able to make that change to start controlling human population and sexuality is where it starts. conception begins with two living things. host: let's let mary rice hasson respond. guest: in everything the pope has said, if you read his encyclical on the environment, he is clear we do not solve problems by getting rid of people. we do not eliminate poverty by getting rid of poor people. he takes on the idea that we are going to solve our problems with climate change with poverty, by getting rid of people, that is not the problem and that is not the solution. he is adamant about that. when he talks about the science he is saying -- he does say some of these things could change. he's working on what he believes is the operative consensus. the heart of his message is, we have a god, a creator, who built a natural order into things, the way the world works, and we need to respect that. that has to do with how we treat the earth and how we treat other people. if there is anything about this pope, he is the pope of connection. he will connect different ideas. to say it does not work you are concerned about nature and the earth and to not be concerned about the destruction of an unborn child. to throw away human life. he is trying to challenge all of us on all sides and bring us to look at the centrality of the human person. host: how far of a job do you think he has making those connections to a very divided congress on some of the issues you talked about? guest: i think that will be his challenge. at least here in the u.s., we tend to look at things through our lens of conservatives, liberal, republican, democrat. this pope breaks those molds. he is going to speak the truth and the primary truth is we are human beings. god has in order to things and we need to respect that and that means respecting human life. watching out for those in bringing in those from the margins who really suffer when we do not respect human life. host: brenda is up next, line for republicans. caller: i would like to say that if the catholics want the pope to appear before congress as a born-again christian, i would like to see franklin graham appear before congress. the pope is too liberal for me. my respect goes to franklin graham and billy graham and men like that. host: where is the pope too liberal for you? let's talk about some of these issues. caller: climate change. they used to call the global warming. that does not agree with their ideology so they call it what they call it now. what happened to they are not supposed to mix church with state? guest: the pope is not legislating. all the pope is doing, he is like the global moral conscience . he is calling us to think through the consequences of our actions. when he is talking about climate change, it is not because he is concerned about -- he's concerned about the human person. it is true that in a lot of those countries poor people suffered because of the there isrned because of the people. i think that is something that speaks to everyone across the aisle and that is what i would hope from our representatives that they listen in that vein and hear the pope's message. host: chicago, illinois. on for democrats. -- on the line for democrats. caller: i believe a lot of what the pope has to say. i was watching c-span and saw some of the visit in cuba.