The White House announced Thursday that President Biden will be making a trip to see Pope Francis in January for what may be the last international foray of his presidency.
The president is flying to Rome where he will stay from Jan. 9 to 12, meeting with the Pope, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni,”press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
“Biden will have an audience with the Pope and discuss efforts to advance peace around the world. He will also meet with Italy’s leaders to highlight the strength of the U.S.-Italy relationship, thank Prime Minister Meloni for her strong leadership of the G7 over the past year, and discuss important challenges facing the world,” she added.
But Biden, 82, notably went to the G20 meeting in Brazil in November, before heading to Angola in December, making good on a promise to go to Africa during his term.
The Vatican trip will mark the third time Biden, the second Roman Catholic president in US history, has officially spoken to the Pope while in office.
Biden met with Pope Francis earlier this year while traveling to Italy for a G7 meeting and spoke to him in 2021 in a wide-ranging discussion at the Holy See.
The meeting in June included an awkward forehead-to-forehead hug initiated by Biden — and a conservation about the Israel-Hamas war and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Biden also “reaffirmed his deep appreciation for the Pope’s tireless advocacy for the poor and those suffering from persecution, the effects of climate change, and conflict around the world,” the White House said in a statement at the time.
Critics in the past have pointed to the president’s pro-abortion stances being out of step with Catholic teaching.
But Francis did not talk to him about abortion, Biden said after their 2021 meeting, claiming that the Pope gave him the OK to keep receiving communion.
“We just talked about the fact that he was happy I’m a good Catholic and I should keep receiving communion,” Biden told reporters at the time.
With Post wires
