Democrat starts push to award Pope Francis the Nobel Peace Prize

A senior House Democrat wants to nominate Pope Francis for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, is circulating a letter among fellow lawmakers to the Nobel Committee ahead of Francis’s historic address to Congress on Thursday.

The letter points to Francis’s calls for taking action against environmental degradation, condemnations of genocides and assisting refugees, including inviting a Syrian family to stay at the Vatican.

{mosads}”With unsurpassed eloquence, humility and compassion, the Pope has used his pulpit to exhort people and nations around the world to conduct their affairs with spirituality, morality and integrity,” the letter reads.

“Pope Francis has been a powerful advocate for peace, urging an end to conflict and support for constitutive ties among nations,” it adds. “This commitment to nonviolence, which the Pope has put into practice every day through his words and actions, is at the core of the principles behind the Nobel Peace Prize.”

Francis is meeting with President Obama at the White House on Wednesday morning and will be the first pontiff in history to speak before a joint session of Congress on Thursday. His U.S. visit will also include a speech before the United Nations in New York City and the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia.

The 2015 Nobel Peace Prize, which has not been awarded yet, will be announced on Oct. 9.