President Joe Biden will meet with top Italian Officials and Pope Francis on a trip to Italy next month. International trips are rare for US president, especially so late in their term. This is expected to be Bidens last trip abroad. Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, announced that he will also meet with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella during the Jan. 9-12 trip.
Jean-Pierre reported Biden and Pope will “discuss efforts to advance peace around the world.” She said the President intends to use his last conversation with Meloni to “discuss important challenges facing the world” and to commend her for Italy’s leadership as the country winds up its yearlong, rotating presidency at the Group of Seven.
Biden spoke with the Pope on a phone call Thursday where Francis invited the President to visit the Vatican. In a statement, the Whitehouse said “The President thanked the Pope for his continued advocacy to alleviate global suffering, including his work to advance human rights and protect religious freedoms.” Biden, who describes himself as a Roman Catholic, last met privately with Francis earlier this year while in Italy for the G7 leaders meeting.
Biden last met with Francis in 2021. They had a wide-ranging conversation about the coronavirus pandemic, poverty, and climate change. This conversation featured jokes about aging well and a more serious digression on the death of the president’s adult son Beau, who died of cancer in 2015. Following the meeting, Francis called him a “good Catholic” who should keep receiving Communion.
Biden and other Democrats, who support abortion rights and same-sex marriage, are at odds with many Catholic Officials. Former speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has found herself in a battle over this exact issue. She was officially barred from communion by her bishop over her views of abortion. Officially the Church bans its members from supporting abortion.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of the Archdiocese of San Francisco wrote a letter to Pelosi in 2022. “I am hereby notifying you that you are not to present yourself for Holy Communion and, should you do so, you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion, until such time as you publicly repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the sacrament of Penance,” wrote Cordileone.
He instructed her to “repudiate her support for abortion rights” and to confess her sins. However, Pelosi was unbothered. “My Catholic faith is, Christ is my savior,” she glibly added. “It has nothing to do with the bishops,” Pelosi says that she’s been taking communion anyway. “I received communion anyway. That’s his problem, not mine.”
Pelosi’s team has not issued an additional statement. A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of San Francisco said “There has been correspondence with the Vatican, but the Vatican indicates that it is to be held as strictly confidential.” Pelosi has also leveled criticism at the Vatican for their relationship with the Chinese government. Pope Francis has agreed to allow the CCP to weigh in on how bishops are appointed in the nation.
She is one of many U.S. politicians who are critical of China. However, she is one of the most radical supporters of the nation of Taiwan. “Why should the Chinese government be having a say in the appointment of bishops?” former House Speaker pointed out. “We have, for decades, seen the suffering of Catholics in China,” she told NCR.