The President of the United States, Joe Biden, said this Friday (29), right after a meeting with Pope Francis, that abortion was not one of the topics discussed in the conversation with the pontiff. Still, he said that Francis said he should continue to receive Communion.
The Democrat’s support for abortion rights is a topic of debate in the US, with American church leaders saying the president should not have the right to receive communion. According to Biden, Francis told him that he was happy that he was a good Catholic and that he should continue to receive the sacrament.
According to the Vatican, Biden and Francisco talked for an hour and 15 minutes and spent another 15 minutes exchanging gifts and taking pictures. The meeting was considered unusually long — the pope spoke for 30 minutes with Donald Trump in 2017 and for 50 minutes with Barack Obama in 2014.
The White House said Biden thanked the pontiff “for his defense of the world’s poor and those suffering from hunger, conflict and persecution.” The Democrat, the statement said, “praised Pope Francis’ leadership in fighting the climate crisis, as well as his advocacy to ensure an end to the pandemic for all through vaccine sharing and an equitable global economic recovery.
According to the official report of the Holy See, Biden and Francis “insisted on their common commitment to the protection and care of the planet, the health situation and the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the refugee issue, and how to provide assistance to migrants”.
The US government is experiencing a migration crisis, with record arrests on the border with Mexico, which poses a challenge to Biden’s pledge to take a “more humane approach” than his predecessor in the White House. “Both parties also spoke about the protection of human rights, including the right to freedom of religion and conscience,” the Vatican added.
Biden arrived at the Vatican along with many members of the security forces. In Italy, he will also participate in the G20 summit, a meeting of the world’s leading economies, this weekend.
In their traditional colorful uniforms, Swiss guards responsible for the security of Catholic Church leaders greeted the American president and his wife, Jill Biden, with a salute of honor in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace. The US flag flew on the porch of the Pope’s official residence.
“Thank you so much, it’s good to be back,” Biden told one of the Vatican officials. To another officer, who was talking to the first lady, the Democrat good-naturedly said, “I’m Jill’s husband.”
The meeting between the first Latin American pope and the second Catholic president to occupy the White House comes amid a heated debate in the US church, in which Biden is under pressure from conservative leaders for his position on women’s rights to abortion .
The American president attends Mass weekly and keeps a photo of Pope Francis behind his desk in the Oval Office. On a personal level, he has already voiced his opposition to abortion, with the caveat that, as a democratically elected leader, he cannot impose his views on the country he governs.
In the church hierarchy, more ardent critics have said that Biden should be banned from receiving communion, one of the main sacraments of the Catholic faith. “Dear Pope Francis, you boldly stated that abortion is ‘murder.’ Please challenge President Biden on this critical issue. His persistent support for abortion is a disgrace to the church and a scandal to the world,” wrote the Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island state in a Twitter post.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, also a conservative, did not mention Biden directly, but wrote on his website about the “grave scandal caused by some Catholic politicians.” “They have, in fact, contributed significantly to the consolidation of a culture of death in the US, in which abortion is simply a fact of everyday life,” Burke said.
In June, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) put to a vote a resolution on how American religious leaders should deal with Catholic politicians, including the president. The issue is expected to return to discussion next month, although the Vatican has warned that the process would sow discord rather than promote unity.
Questioned last month, Pope Francis told reporters he considered abortion a “murder”. The pontiff, however, criticized the position of the American Catholic bishops for dealing with the issue of communion in a political rather than pastoral way. “Communion is not a reward for the perfect. Communion is a gift, the presence of Jesus and his church,” Francisco said, adding that bishops should use “compassion and tenderness” with Catholic politicians who support abortion rights.
Despite the pressure, the final decision on whether or not to allow Biden (or any other believer) to receive communion rests with the responsible bishop for each diocese. In the case of the Democrat, who attends services in Washington and Wilmington, Delaware, a ban is highly unlikely.
Leaders must offer ‘concrete hopes’ at COP26, says Francisco
On the eve of COP26, the UN climate conference that begins this Sunday (31) in Glasgow, UK, Francisco made an appeal for political leaders who will participate in the event to offer future generations “effective answers” and “hopes that they are taking the necessary steps to address climate change.
“These crises present us with the need to make decisions, radical decisions that are not always easy,” said the pontiff in an interview on Friday with the British BBC network. “At the same time, moments of difficulty like this also present opportunities, opportunities we shouldn’t miss out on.”
The Vatican will send a delegation to COP26, but Francisco will not attend the conference. The Catholic Church leader, however, urged political leaders around the world to commit to the urgent need for changes in the direction of climate issues.
“We can face these crises by retreating into isolationism, protectionism and exploitation. Or we can see in them a real chance for change, a genuine moment of conversion, and not simply in the spiritual sense,” he said. “This last approach alone can guide us towards a brighter horizon.”
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