--- title: Congressman Drinks From Pope Francis's Water Glass description: Representative Robert Brady drank from a glass of water that Pope Francis discarded after addressing Congress. canonical: https://time.com/4050643/pope-francis-water-congress/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-25T20:57:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:32:07.856Z og:title: Congressman Drinks From Pope's Abandoned Glass of Water og:description: Talk about holy water og:url: https://time.com/4050643/pope-francis-water-congress/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb06fc0dd94248f4b/698865963c163958a9459f18/bob-brady.jpg?branch=production&width=1000&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1000 og:image:height: 563 og:image:alt: Bob-Brady og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Congressman Drinks From Pope's Abandoned Glass of Water twitter:description: Talk about holy water twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb06fc0dd94248f4b/698865963c163958a9459f18/bob-brady.jpg?branch=production&width=1000&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Congressman Drank From the Pope's Abandoned Glass of Water > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ebe4728e-3963-49cb-9c1a-58713bd38fae&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Highlights from Pope Francis's Congress Address [Watch (HLS stream): Highlights from Pope Francis's Congress Address](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/5NucPyDw.m3u8) (1:59)  _Published 2015-09-24. Watch: Highlights from Pope Francis's Congress Address_  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Sep 25, 2015 8:57 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Sep 25, 2015 8:57 PM UTC Most people took no notice of the glass of water that Pope Francis paused to sip from during his historic address to Congress on Thursday. But for Rep. Bob Brady of Pennsylvania, the vessel became the focal point of the speech. While the majority of Congress members rushed towards the Pope as he stepped down from the podium on to the House floor, Brady made his way to the lectern to collect the Holy Father’s discarded water. He then brought the glass back to his office before drinking from it. The Congressman shared the ‘holy’ water with his wife, Debra, and two of his staffers, according to [ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/US/meet-congressman-drank-popes-glass/story?id=34038875). “I took a sip out of it.” Brady told the [Philadelphia Daily News](http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pope/20150924%5FHoly%5Fwater%5F%5FU%5FS%5F%5FRep%5F%5FBrady%5Fhelps%5Fhimself%5Fto%5Fpopes%5Fglass.html). “How many people do you know that drank out of the same glass as the Pope?” Brady then invited Sen. Bob Casey into his office to view the glass. Casey brought along his wife and mother, and the “three dipped their fingers into the glass,” the Daily News reported. “Pictures were taken, joy was in the air.” The Congressman said he plans to keep the rest of Papa Francisco’s beverage to sprinkle on his grandchildren. ## Transcript Your one responsibility as members of congress is to enable this country by legislative activity to grow as a nation. You are the face of it's people. Politics is instead an expression of our compelling will to lead as one, in order to build as one the greatest common good. Presently, my brother bishops Here in the United States, [ UNKNOWN ] the call for the abolition of [ UNKNOWN ] penalty. Not only- [ APPLAUSE ] Not only do I support them, but I also offer Encouragement to all those who are convince that adjust unnecessary punishment, must never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4050643/pope-francis-water-congress/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4050643/pope-francis-water-congress/"},"headline":"This Congressman Drank From the Pope's Abandoned Glass of Water","datePublished":"2015-09-25T20:57:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:32:07.856Z","description":"Talk about holy water","url":"https://time.com/4050643/pope-francis-water-congress/","keywords":["Newsfeed"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb06fc0dd94248f4b/698865963c163958a9459f18/bob-brady.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb06fc0dd94248f4b/698865963c163958a9459f18/bob-brady.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bob-Brady","caption":"","creditText":"Office of Rep. 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