Joe Biden, 2nd Catholic President, to meet Pope Francis amid criticism from US bishops

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As President Joe Biden makes only his second overseas trip, he will begin with a personally poignant meeting with Pope Francis on Friday, the first time in more than half a century that a Roman Catholic leader of the United States meets the head of the Catholic Church in the Vatican.

Biden, only the second Catholic elected to the White House after John Fitzgerald Kennedy, spoke about the importance of the moment last month.

“I happen to be a practicing Catholic and one of the things I love about my Pope today is that he talks about renewal and forgiveness, that’s what he’s talking about. And I can’t wait to – I hope I can see it in the not too distant future, ”Biden said in September.

According to the White House, Biden and Francis “will discuss working together on efforts based on respect for basic human dignity, including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the climate crisis and addressing the poor ”.

To overshadow the meeting, however, will be the criticism from conservative American bishops of Biden’s policy stance on abortion.

Pope Francis waves to the crowd from the balcony of the United States Capitol, as Vice President Joe Biden, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Speaker John Boehner watch on September 24, 2015, in Washington.

It won’t be the first time the two have met. In fact, the couple spent more time together than perhaps any former US president and pope – a distinction that has not been lost on Shaun Casey, senior researcher at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World. Georgetown University Affairs.

“They’ve known each other from all over the papacy. And it won’t be their first meeting, which I think makes it quite unique in American presidential history, it may even be in papal history that these two guys know each other to some extent that no other like pair does. ” said Casey, who served as special representative for religion and world affairs to Secretary of State John Kerry during the Obama administration.

“These guys know each other, and I think they are comfortable with each other and have a relationship that seems to be very warm and very genuine.”

Vice President Joe Biden meets with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican, June 3, 2011, in an official White House photo

Biden and the Pope

As vice president, Biden attended Francis’ investiture in 2013 and helped guide him during his visit to Washington in 2015, before meeting Francis again in the Vatican in 2016 for a conference on the regenerative medicine.

Francis’ visit to the United States was particularly touching for Biden, coming just months after his son, Beau Biden, died of glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in May.

“He asked to meet the family in the airport hangar as he left for Philly,” Biden recalled of Francis in an interview with CBS “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert last year. .

“He walked in. We had 16 family members there, and he didn’t just talk about Beau, he spoke in detail about Beau, who he was and family values ​​and forgiveness and decency. I mean, he’s – – I’m a big admirer of His Holiness, I really am, “Biden continued.

He keeps a photo of himself and Francis in the Oval Office.

Yet Biden’s political views have at times put him at odds with the church on issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion, issues that still divide him and Francis. Despite this, the two men share similar views when it comes to helping the poor, the need to tackle climate change and tackling the pandemic.

According to Casey, Francis places the “pastoral” role of the church above its “theological” role – a perspective that links him to the US president.

Biden derives his meaning, sustenance, and healing from how the church has been with him during his grief over his long public career. And so, in essence, there is a pastoral connection there, besides. the type of social teaching bond they share.

Francis is not the only Pope Biden has met during his nearly 50 years in Washington. Biden also met Pope Benedict XVI in 2011, and in 1980 the then senator met for 45 minutes with Pope John Paul II.

“He kept joking about my youth,” Biden told The Dialogue, the newspaper for the diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, after the meeting.

Biden also recalled that “the discussions with the Pope were relatively uninterrupted, although several times during their conversation, assistants knocked on the door of the library, to be rejected by John Paul”.

In this March 19, 2013 file photo, provided by the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis meets Vice President Joe Biden and his sister, Valerie Biden Owens, after his installation Mass at the Vatican.

“My religion defines who I am”

Biden is perhaps the most religious president in the country since Jimmy Carter. He attends mass almost every weekend and on statutory holidays, very often accompanied by members of his family, and wears Beau’s rosary on his wrist.

“My religion defines who I am,” Biden said during the 2012 vice presidential debate. “I have been a practicing Catholic all my life. And this has especially informed my social doctrine. Catholic social doctrine talks about caring for those who – who can’t take care of themselves, people who need help. “

Biden attended a Catholic school growing up in Scranton, Pa., And Claymont, Delaware, and cited his faith as having helped him overcome some major traumas in his life, including the death of his young wife and her daughter in a traffic accident in 1972, and her son in 2015.

“I never miss mass,” Biden said last August. “It’s part of who I am. It’s what keeps me through the very difficult times in my life, and I believe in it very strongly.”

But while he acknowledges the profound impact his religious devotion has had on his life, Biden largely views his faith as a “private matter” and not open to public debate.

“I don’t proselytize. It’s just a private matter with me and I feel very – my faith… means a lot to me. And that was kind of my salvation,” Biden said in 2019.

But Biden’s private faith became the subject of major public debate during his presidency. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops criticized him for his stance on abortion and voted to draft guidelines on who should be able to receive the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist – the consecrated host that Catholics believe to be the Body of Christ.

Biden, who campaigned for the codification of Roe v. Wade, and announced his opposition to the Hyde Amendment, which prevents the use of public funds for abortions, during the 2020 campaign, drew a line between his public and private views on the issue.

“My position is that I am personally opposed to abortion, but I don’t think I have the right to impose my point of view on the rest of society,” Biden wrote in his 2007 memoir.

This position has caused problems for Biden in the past. In 2019, Biden was denied communion at a South Carolina Catholic church while campaigning for the presidency.

“Any public figure who advocates abortion places himself outside the teaching of the Church. As a priest, it is my responsibility to serve the souls entrusted to me, and I must do so even in situations most difficult. I will keep Mr. Biden in my prayers, “Reverend Robert Morey of St. Anthony Catholic Church in Florence, South Carolina, said in a statement.

For his part, Biden called the incident a one-time event, saying, “This is not a position I haven’t found anywhere else, including from the Holy Father giving me Communion.” .

A vote on the new directions for Eucharistic eligibility, pushed by conservative bishops, is expected to take place in mid-November and would require the support of two-thirds of the conference to be implemented, but the effort has failed. warmly received by the Vatican.

Francis made it clear that Holy Communion is “not a price for the perfect” and does not believe in the denial of Communion.

“What should the pastor do? Francis asked aboard the papal plane in September. “Be a pastor, don’t go and condemn. Be a pastor, for he is also a pastor for the excommunicated.”

“The bishops here in the United States cannot miss the symbolism of Joe Biden’s warm embrace by Pope Francis,” Casey said of the visit.

Even if approved, the implementation would rest with the local bishops. The Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, has also said he does not support the denial of communion, as does the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, which Biden attends in Washington.

“As a parish that has a long history of welcoming everyone, we share and support the pastoral approach of our Archbishop. The Holy Trinity Catholic Church will not refuse the Eucharist to those who come forward to receive it”, the parish said in a statement.

When Biden was asked about the effort earlier this year, he simply replied, “It’s a private matter, and I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

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