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What Congress does in the next several days about this episode will speak volumes – or not – about whether it intends to ever reassert itself as an equal branch of government.

While the process itself did not lead to decisive action on either front, it did speak volumes about Pope Francis' desire that his pontificate was rooted not in Rome and in clerics but in the lives of believers around the world.

All of those gestures are simple and doable and speak volumes.

And I think that that silence really does speak volumes.

Offering a listening ear or a comforting presence can speak volumes when words feel inadequate.