--- title: Here's What Paul Ryan Can Learn From the Pope description: Don't forsake the poor canonical: https://time.com/4093562/paul-ryan-pope-francis/ author: Christopher Hale article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-29T21:16:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:57:18.109Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Here's What Paul Ryan Can Learn From the Pope og:description: Don't forsake the poor og:url: https://time.com/4093562/paul-ryan-pope-francis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt688daa62bc4e1937/69886eb85f570f44b8b1e15e/paul-ryan-house-speaker-3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3941 og:image:height: 2217 og:image:alt: Paul Ryan og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's What Paul Ryan Can Learn From the Pope twitter:description: Don't forsake the poor twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt688daa62bc4e1937/69886eb85f570f44b8b1e15e/paul-ryan-house-speaker-3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's What Paul Ryan Can Learn From the Pope > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: Know Right Now: Paul Ryan Elected Speaker of the House [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: Paul Ryan Elected Speaker of the House](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zN7HMMnQ.m3u8) (1:00)  _Published 2015-10-28. Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan was elected speaker of the house by House Republicans_ by [Christopher Hale](https://time.com/author/christopher-j-hale-2/) ## Christopher Hale Oct 29, 2015 9:16 PM UTC  Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., followed by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., on Oct. 28, 2015 in Washington. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., followed by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., on Oct. 28, 2015 in Washington. Carolyn Kaster—AP by [Christopher Hale](https://time.com/author/christopher-j-hale-2/) ## Christopher Hale Oct 29, 2015 9:16 PM UTC During Paul Ryan’s inaugural speech as U.S. House Speaker Thursday, he [said:](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/paul-ryan-elected-speaker-transcript-full-text-215351#ixzz3pzHexO9e) “If you ever pray, pray for each other— Republicans for Democrats, Democrats for Republicans. And I don’t mean pray for a conversion. Pray for a deeper understanding, because—when you’re up here, you see it so clearly—wherever you come from, whatever you believe, we are all in the same boat.” Ryan is very much in the same boat of his two immediate predecessors, Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner. All three are professed Catholics. And like Pelosi and Boehner, Ryan has his own set of difficulties with the Catholic Church on social policies. For Pelosi it was [abortion](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/us/politics/in-pelosi-strong-catholic-faith-and-abortion-rights-coexist.html) rights, for Boehner it was [immigration](http://time.com/2817823/boehners-got-a-catholic-problem-on-immigration-reform/) reform, and for Ryan it most likely will be the social safety net. Ryan has already experienced this difficulty in recent years. In 2011 and 2012 as the chairman of the House Budget Committee, Ryan proposed significant cuts to programs that served the poor. The [American Catholic bishops said that Ryan’s cuts were over the top](http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-076.cfm) and that his budget failed “a basic moral test.” Sister Simone Campbell and the Nuns on the Bus campaign took that message on the road and made the position of Catholics clear: You cannot balance the federal budget on the backs of the poor. Ryan responded to the accusations by giving a speech at Georgetown, the nation’s oldest Catholic university, in which he [defended his budget as well within the guidelines of the Church’s social doctrine:](http://www.uscatholic.org/blog/2012/04/can-we-really-just-agree-disagree-catholic-social-teaching) “Of course there can be differences among faithful Catholics on this.” In response, Jesuit Father Thomas Reese [said](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/the-gospel-according-to-paul-ryan/2012/04/26/gIQAOnJujT%5Fblog.html): “We’d give that speech an _F_. Catholics believe that problems should be dealt with at the lowest levels. But if families could take care of themselves, and the local government could, we wouldn’t have the crisis that we’re facing right now.” After Ryan’s failed vice presidential bid and Pope Francis’s subsequent election five months later, he seemed to change his tone. Days before Christmas in 2013, _BuzzFeed_ ran [a profile of Ryan](http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/paul-ryan-finds-god#.jrKYKxzrP) saying that Pope Francis had transformed the budget-slashing congressman into a missionary seeking to help the poor. The jury’s still out. Ryan worked with liberal Senator Patty Murray to pass a just and bipartisan budget proposal in December 2013, but his 2014 budget was nearly as concerning as its 2011 and 2012 siblings, with tax breaks for the wealthy and cuts for programs that serve the poor. Ryan said Thursday that [he plans to “wipe the slate clean”](http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/10/29/452688786/wisconsin-republican-paul-ryan-elected-house-speaker) and begin a new era of leadership for the broken House of Representatives. Perhaps this new era can be defined by [the words Pope Francis spoke in front of the body last month:](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/24/443070564/watch-live-pope-francis-poised-to-speak-to-joint-meeting-of-congress) “If we want security, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities​.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] We need to move from an opposition party to a proposition party. Because we think the nation is on the wrong path we have a duty to show the right one. Our next Speaker has to be a visionary one. Second, we need to update our house- So this morning I informed my colleagues that I would resign from the Speakership and resign from Congress at the end of October. I can not and I will not give up my family time. I may not be on the road as often as previous Speakers, but I pledge to try and make up for it with more time communicating our vision, our message. This is not the way Deal with people's business. And under new management we are not going to be in people's business this way. We are against the deadline, that's unfortunate. By going forward, we can't do the people's business. As a conference we should have been meeting months ago to discuss these things, to have a unified strategy going forward. 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