Pres. Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive in Italy, where the president is slated to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican before kicking off meetings with leaders of the world’s largest economies in Rome.
on Friday, the first time in more than half a century that a Roman Catholic U.S. leader has met at the Vatican with the head of the Catholic Church.
Overshadowing the meeting, though, will be criticism from conservative U.S. bishops over Biden's political position on abortion.Pope Francis waves to crowd from the balcony of the U.S. Capitol building, as Vice President Joe Biden, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Speaker of the House John Boehner look on, Sept. 24, 2015, in Washington.
Francis’ visit to the United States was particularly touching for Biden, coming just a few months after the passing of his son, Beau Biden, from glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, that May. "Biden draws meaning and sustenance and healing from how the church has been with him during his grief over his long public career. And so in essence, there's a pastoral bond there, in addition to the sort of social teachings bond that they share.
"My religion defines who I am," Biden said during the 2012 vice presidential debate."I've been a practicing Catholic my whole life. And it has particularly informed my social doctrine. Catholic social doctrine talks about taking care of those who — who can't take care of themselves, people who need help."
"I don't proselytize. This is just a private thing with me and I feel very -- my faith ... means a great deal to me. And it's been sort of my salvation," Biden said in 2019. That position has caused problems for Biden in the past. In 2019, Biden was denied Communion at a South Carolina Catholic church while campaigning for president.
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