Joe Biden reveals Pope told him he is a 'good Catholic' and should continue getting communion, but says they didn't talk about abortion: President joked with the pontiff about getting drinks and presented him with challenge coin during 75-minute meeting
President Joe Biden revealed on Friday that Pope Francis told him he's a 'good Catholic' and that the two men did not discuss the controverial issue of abortion during their 75-minute sit down behind the closed doors of the Vatican.
He also said the pope told him to keep receiving communion.
'We just talked about the fact he was happy that I was a good Catholic and I should keep receiving communion,' Biden said after the meeting.
Biden, the nation's second Catholic president, met with the pontiff amid pressure from conservative Catholics in the United States about his abortion stance.
The U.S. Conference of Bishops is weighing whether to admonish Catholic politicians like Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who support a woman's right to an abortion - which Catholics consider a sin - yet also take Holy Communion at mass.
Biden said he did not take communion Friday. Asked whether he and Pope Francis discussed the U.S. Conference of Bishops, the president replied that's a 'private conversation.'
He also said that he and the pontif exchanged prayers for one another. The president said he prayed for 'peace.'
And he revealed Pope Francis blessed his son Beau's rosary beads that he wears around his wrist. Beau Biden died in 2015 from brain cancer.
He said they talked about climate change, including the 'need' and 'moral responsibility' to deal with it during their meeting.
Biden's time with the pope on Friday was longer than either of his two predecessors got with the pontiff.
Biden, the nation's second Catholic president, was scheduled to be with the Pontiff for only an hour but received extra time. In 2017, Francis met then President DonaldTrump for 30 minutes and, in 2014, Francis met with then President Barack Obama for 52 minutes. Biden's meeting with Pope John Paul, in 1980, in contrast, was only 45 minutes.
The meeting was 'wonderful,' Biden told reporters afterwards.
During their meeting, Biden presented Francis a woven chasuble, or liturgical vestment, made in 1930 by the famed papal tailor Gamarelli and used by the pope's Jesuit order in the U.S., where it was held in the archives of Holy Trinity Church, Biden's regular parish in Washington. President John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic U.S. president, also worshipped at Holy Trinity.
'I hope you find this gift from the United States appropriate,' Biden said.
Biden also presented the pope with a presidential challenge coin.
'I'm not sure this is appropriate, but there's a tradition in America. That the president has what is called a command coin,' the president explained.
Biden said it was meant for 'warriors and leaders.'
'And you are the most significant warrior for peace I've ever met,' Biden told the pope.
The president said that while the U.S. seal adorned the front of it, the back was unique.
'But I know my son would want me to give this to you because on the back of it I have the state of Delaware and the 261st, the unit my son served with,' he said, referencing the late Beau Biden and his service in Iraq with the Delaware Army National Guard.
'The tradition is, and I'm only kidding about this, the next time I see you you don't have it, you have to buy the drinks,' Biden continued. 'I'm the only Irishman you've ever met who's never had a drink,' the president added.
The pope spoke back to Biden in Italian, though was heard making a joke about whiskey.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis, 84, gave Biden, 78, a ceramic tile depicting the iconography of the pilgrim, as well as a collection of the pope´s main teaching documents, the Vatican said.
Pope Francis and President Joe Biden met for 75 minutes at the Vatican on Friday
President Biden and Pope Francis with their translators at their private meeting
President Biden presented Pope Francis with a presidential challenge coin
President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Bide and Pope Francis during their private meeting at the Holy See - the Vatican released pictures of the meeting after it ended
President Biden, first lady Jill Biden, and Pope Francis with the American and papal delegations
During their meeting, Biden gave Pope Francis a handwoven chasuble from 1930 from Holy Trinity Church in DC, where he often goes to Mass. An accompanying note says as gift to pope, the White House also will donate winter clothing to charities as part of World Day for the Poor
President Biden and Pope Francis during their meeting at the Holy See
Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza (right) welcomes President Joe Biden (center) and First Lady Jill Biden (left) to the Vatican Friday for their meeting with Pope Francis
The Pope's gentlemen (right) greet President Joe Biden (second from left) and First Lady Jill Biden (left) upon their arrival Friday at the Vatican
President Joe Biden (center) and First Lady Jill Biden (left) arrive at the San Damaso courtyard at the Vatican in Rome
First Lady Jill Biden wore a traditional mantilla veil with an animal print dark suit
'I'm Jill's husband,' President Joe Biden said introducing himself to the Papal gentlemen
The motorcade of President Joe Biden drives across the Via della Conciliazione in Rome. The motorcade was 85 cars long, due to Italy's COVID-19 restrictions
The Swiss Guards prepare for the arrival of President Joe Biden for a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican
President Joe Biden arrives in the San Damaso courtyard in the Vatican for his planned meeting with Pope Francis
Jill Biden leaves the Holy See after the meeting with Pope Francis
Pope Francis adjusts his face masks as he leaves his meeting with President Biden
President Joe Biden's motorcade was 85 cars long due to Italy's COVID-19 restrictions
People line the streets of Rome along the motorcade route of President Joe Biden
First Lady Jill Biden joined her husband for the closed-door meeting at the Vatican. She left when it was over - as did Pope Francis - but Biden stayed for an extended bilateral meeting with senior Vatican officials.
'It's good to be back,' the president told one of the Papal gentlemen upon his arrival at the Holy See. 'I'm Jill's husband,' he also said, which is one of his trademark greetings.
The notoriously late president arrived on time for the noon gathering. He wore a dark suit and tie while Jill Biden donned a traditional black lace mantilla head covering for the occasion along with a dark suit with an animal print pattern on it.
In an edited video released by the Vatican, the president can be heard introducing the pope to members of his staff.
'You just made he a hero letting me introduce her,' Biden said after presenting the pope to Annie Tomasini, the director of Oval Office Operations.
Biden introduced Dr. Amanda Sloat, the senior director for Europe at the National Security Council, by telling the pope, 'Things you should know about this woman, she knows more about foreign policy than I do and she's smarter than I.'
He shared the military accolades of Dr. Kevin O'Connor with the pope and then explained he was the physician to the president.
'They assign me a doctor,' Biden explained.
When it was acting Chief of Protocol Asel Roberts' turn, Biden joked: 'She tries to keep me in line.'
The meeting comes after the Vatican abruptly canceled a planned live broadcast of the meeting - and White House reporters were left standing outside in the courtyard.
The Vatican press office provided no explanation for why press coverage was limited to the president's motorcade arriving in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace, where Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza, the head of Papal Household, greeted him.
The footage and photos of Biden and the Pope meeting in the palace throne room was provided by the Vatican, which edited the footage before it was publicly released.
The Bidens' motorcade to the Vatican was 85 cars long, due to Italian COVID-19 rules, which only allow four people per vehicle.
The president was accompanied by senior officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, among others.
Biden, a devout Catholic, attends weekly mass and Catholic holy days. He carries rosary beads that belonged to his deceased son Beau and he keeps a photo of himself and the Pope behind his desk in the Oval Office in the first row of pictures next to ones with his family.
It's the fourth time the two men have met and was Biden's first stop on his five-day trip to Europe. He'll also attend the G20 meeting in Rome over the weekend before heading to Scotland on Monday for the UN Climate Summit known was COP26.
Biden's sitdown with Pope Francis comes as his administration is fighting Texas' abortion law, the most restrictive law in the nation, which bans abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected and that is normally after six weeks and before many women even know they are pregnant.
In mid-November the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will convene in Baltimore to debate whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be admonished for receiving Communion.
The Swiss Guards prepare for the arrival of President Joe Biden for a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican
A handout from the Italian State Police shows snipers on a rooftop in Rome near the Vatican, as world leaders flock to the city for the G20. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visited with Pope Francis at noon on Friday
President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, keeps a photo of himself and Pope Francis on his desk in the Oval Office, it can be seen above to the left of the president
President Biden and First Lady Jill touched down in Rome at 2:30 am local time
Then Vice President Joe Biden (left) and Pope Francis (right), with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell standing behind them, wave from a balcony at the U.S. Capitol after the Pope addressed a joint-session of Congress in September 2015
In June, the divided U.S. Conference of Bishiops voted to draft a statement on communion that some bishops say should specifically admonish these Catholic politicians, including Biden, the second Catholic president after John F. Kennedy. They did so despite warning from the Vatican such a move could sow seeds of discord. The bishops will discuss the issue further at their November gathering.
Biden takes communion. He has said he is personally opposed to abortion but cannot impose his views as an elected leader.
Pope Francis has strongly upheld the church's opposition to abortion, calling it 'murder.'
Biden also met with His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, while at the Vatican.
Then-Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands with Pope Francis in September 2015 when the pope addressed a joint session of Congress
Pope Francis (left) greets then Vice President Joe Biden (right) at the Vatican in April 2016, before President Donald Trump was elected. Biden's son Hunter (second from right) and son-in-law Howard Krein (center) stand along his side
Biden talked about his relationship with Pope Francis last October when he addressed the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner, doing so from Wilmington's Queen theater because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Biden talked about his first meeting with Pope Francis during the Pope's 2013 inauguration at the Vatican when Biden was vice presdient.
'When I greeted him he said, 'Mr. Vice President you're always welcome here,'' Biden said. 'He was really sending a message to the world to put out a welcome sign in the front door of our church.'
Biden also mentioned Pope Francis' trip to the White House in 2015 - when he was in office with President Barack Obama - saying that like his visit to the Vatican in 2013, it gave him the sense of 'hope and possibility together.'
'And for me it came at a very personal moment, a very tough time in the life of my family. Our son Beau had just died a few months earlier,' Biden said. 'Pope Francis took the time to meet with my entire family to help us see the light through the darkness.'
Biden, as vice president, also traveled to the Vatican in April 2016 for a stem cell conference.
At the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner, Biden said that his friendship with Pope Francis was proof that 'anything is possible' in the U.S.
'I live in an amazing country, we all live in an amazing country,' Biden said. 'Where an Irish-Catholic kid like me from Scranton, Pennsylvania would one day befriend a Jesuit Pope.'
'But that's who we are as a country,' Biden said.
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