Vatican City: Joe Biden arrived at the Vatican on Friday for a meeting with Pope Francis expected to centre on climate change and injustice but which has been overshadowed by debate at home about the Catholic US President’s support for abortion rights.
The President’s motorcade approached under tight security, made even more intense because the Italian capital is simultaneously preparing to host the G20 summit of world leaders this weekend.
US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are greeted by the Head of the Papal Household at the Vatican.Credit:AP
Swiss Guards in their traditional red, yellow and blue uniforms and holding halberds gave Biden and his wife, Jill, an honour salute as they and the US delegation arrived in the San Damaso courtyard of the Apostolic Palace. The US flag flew from the central balcony.
The head of the Pontifical Household, Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza, led them to the third floor of the palace, where formally attired ushers known as the “pope’s gentlemen” waited to escort them down frescoed halls to the official papal library.
“Thank you so much. It’s good to be back,” Biden told one of the officials on the receiving line in the courtyard. He then joked with another official who was talking to his wife. “I’m Jill’s husband,” Biden said.
The meeting between the first Latin American pope and the second Catholic president in US history takes place amid fierce debate in the United States Church, where Biden is under pressure from conservatives over his conflicted position in the dispute over abortion rights.
The President, who goes to weekly Mass regularly and keeps a picture of the Pope behind his desk in the Oval Office, has said he is personally opposed to abortion but cannot impose his views as an elected leader.
His most ardent critics in the US Church hierarchy have said Biden, a Democrat, should be banned from receiving communion, the central sacrament of the faith, and doubled down ahead of the meeting.
“Dear Pope Francis, you have boldly stated that abortion is ‘murder.’ Please challenge President Biden on this critical issue. His persistent support of abortion is an embarrassment for the Church and a scandal to the world,” Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, said in a tweet.
US President Joe Biden meets Pope Francis as abortion debate flares back home
Source: Philippines Alive
