WASHINGTON -- Alaska's congressional delegation got up close and personal with Pope Francis Thursday when the pontiff delivered an address to a special joint session of Congress.
The historic speech marked the first time the leader of the Catholic church has addressed the U.S. Congress, despite many invitations over the years. During Pope Francis's visit to Washington, D.C., part of a multi-city trip along the East Coast, he drew admirers across political lines, with a message of humility and hope that seemed to transcend party lines.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski had her rosary beads blessed; Sen. Dan Sullivan attended papal Mass with tens of thousands; and Rep. Don Young and his wife, Anne, "camped" in his office the night before the historic address, so as not to be caught in traffic.
Alaska's senior Sen. Lisa Murkowski was star-struck when meeting the pope -- an experience she said she would never forget.
"He touched me," she said.
"We were specifically told, do not reach out to him, if he acknowledges you, then you can basically speak to him," Murkowski said, describing the encounter.
But the pope spotted her rosary beads, "and he came over," she said. "I couldn't speak. I literally could not speak. And he came and he placed his hand over the two rosaries that I had cupped in the palm of my hand, and then he took my other hand and he placed it on top of the rosaries, on top of the cupped rosaries," Murkowski said, her voice breaking a bit, eyes wide, recalling the encounter.
"He didn't say a word to me, I didn't say a word to him. He walked away; I did the sign of the cross," she said, adding that Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, called out a welcome to the pontiff. "So she spoke for us, because I just couldn't speak," Murkowski said.
Murkowski and Sen. Dan Sullivan are both Catholic, as is Alaska Rep. Don Young's new wife.
Each lawmaker was afforded a "plus one" ticket to the speech. Murkowski and Young each brought along their spouses.
Sullivan, however, invited his parish priest, Father Tom Lilly, of the Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Anchorage.
"I was totally stunned and surprised beyond belief to have this opportunity," he said Thursday after attending the speech.
"I'm not a politically oriented person. I'm a simple parish priest, and I was stunned by Sen. Sullivan and his wife Julie's generosity," Lilly said, noting that he had "assumed those kinds of things went to big donors." When the office called to offer the ticket, "I was just dumbfounded," Lilly said.
"Being in the room was exciting," Lilly said. He wanted to focus on the event at hand, but admittedly, he was a bit star-struck to see several presidential candidates, members of the Supreme Court and other high-profile faces in the chamber, he said.
When the pope arrived, the excitement boiled over, and "he came down amid tumultuous ovations and lots of grins, and smiles and people shaking hands," Lilly said.
Lilly and many others mentioned difficulty in understanding Pope Francis, a native of Argentina, who did not speak English before being elected pope. But "it just made me listen a little harder," Lilly said.
Both Lilly and Sullivan said they were touched by the pope's inclusion of historical American figures in his speech -- Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Catholic worker movement activist Dorothy Day and Trappist monk and social activist Thomas Merton.
"It was a really profound 24 hours," Sullivan said. He also attended Mass, delivered by Pope Francis, in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, with a "small bipartisan group of senators," he said.
"Always, always, always his theme about helping the least fortunate among us is powerful," Sullivan said.
"The Pope's message of unity was something that should resonate with all races and walks of life," Young said in a statement Thursday evening.
"Pope Francis reminded us all of something we were taught as children, the Golden Rule; to treat one another with respect and compassion as we navigate through our work here on Earth," Young said. "Despite political party or ideology, at our core we are first and foremost Americans. We can accomplish great things, both here and around the world, when we work together.""