US President Joe Biden greets Pope Francis during a meeting at the Vatican, October 29. Photo: CNS. The Pope received US President Joe Biden and according to the US President, the Pontiff referred to him as “a good Catholic”. Biden was in Rome for the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit. He met with Pope Francis for 75 minutes on Friday, during which they did not reference abortion, a topic that has seen Mr Biden received criticism from certain Catholic bishops and priests in the US for his own personal beliefs.
Biden said that he and the pope prayed for each other and discussed climate change. “We just talked about the fact that he was happy I was a good Catholic and I should keep receiving Communion,” Biden said. Biden also told reporters he discussed “a lot of personal things” with the pontiff and described the lengthy meeting with the Pope as “wonderful.”
During the meeting between the Pope and the US president, Biden presented Francis a special coin with personal context as it bore the insignia of the 261st Signal Brigade, the Delaware National Guard unit in which his late son Beau served as a captain and described the Pope as “the most significant warrior for peace” he has ever met.
Unlike past meetings between the Pope and a head of state, the Vatican did not permit media to be present when Biden and Pope Francis met. No live video stream of the pairs’ meeting was offered to members of the public.
During his time in the Vatican, Mr Biden attended a Mass celebrated by Fr Joe Ciccone and two concelebrating priests, and that Biden placed US currency in the collection basket. Contrary to the stance of many US priests, Mr Biden was permitted to receive Communion during the Mass.
“Communion is what brings us together in the Lord. None of us are pure and perfect. We struggle through life. We’re all saints and sinners”, Fr Ciccone told media after the Mass. “When you’re a public figure you have to make certain decisions, especially in a democracy, on behalf of more than just your own personal feelings,” he said.
An estimated 30 people attended the Mass at St Patrick’s Catholic Church, which had a large security presence. The president and his wife sat in the last row and the church that Biden attended was the same church that another US politician, Nancy Pelosi, travelled to for Mass when she visited Pope Francis earlier in October. Pelosi and her husband left Mass in Rome before the second reading because of a security incident.