Dem Congressman Swipes Pope's Water Glass After Speech Before Congress

This is pretty bizarre, especially since the congressman in question pulled the same stunt with President Obama’s water glass at his inauguration.

Pennsylvania Rep. Bob Brady made his way to the lectern in the House chamber after Pope Francis finished speaking and made off with his water glass. With his wife and a couple of aides in tow, Brady went back to his office. What happened next is hard to believe.

Philly.com:

The pope sipped from the glass at least three times during his speech, Brady told the Daily News on Thursday night. And as the Holy Father left the chamber – and as many a legislator tried to make contact with him – the congressman calmly headed to the lectern and delicately picked up Papa Francisco’s glass, holding it by two fingers, one at the bottom of the glass and one at the rim.

Brady then walked back to his office, carrying the glass and water and accompanied by his wife, Debra, and two staffers.

(It may be significant to note here that Brady had pulled the same stunt at President Obama’s first inauguration.)

Once he was safely in his office, Brady told the People Paper, “I took a sip out of it.” So did Debra and the two staffers, who snapped pictures to commemorate the event.

“How many people do you know that drank out of the same glass as the pope?” Brady asked.

Not a question we ever dreamed we’d have to answer – but, what, maybe four people?

Brady also spread the holy-water joy to other legislators. He called U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., into his office, and Casey brought along his wife and mother. The three dipped their fingers into the glass. Pictures were taken, joy was in the air.

Brady said he then poured the rest of the water into a bottle and will use it to bless his four grandchildren, who range in age from 7 to 18, and his 1-year-old great-granddaughter.

Where’s the glass, you may ask? Brady is keeping it in a brown paper bag. After the papal visit, he will give it to Philadelphia police to dust it for fingerprints to prove its authenticity, he said Thursday night.

“They’re pretty busy right now.”

The act of the pope simply touching the glass does not make it “holy,” according to Catholic tradition. The pope isn’t Midas where everything he touches is imbued with the Holy Spirit. Unless he goes through the ritual of actually blessing the water, technically speaking it would be as ordinary as tap water.

Apparently none of that matters to Brady, who is going to “bless” his grandkids and great grandchild with the unholy water and keep the unholy glass as a souvenir. It will be interesting to see how the Philly police are going to verify the pope’s fingerprints on the glass, since I doubt they have them on file.

Maybe they can call the Vatican. And while they’re asking, perhaps they could request some more water for Rep. Brady. He might want to irrigate his lawn and make that “holy” too.