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The White House has announced that President Joe Biden will travel to Italy next month for a public meeting with Pope Francis in Vatican City before the end of his term.
Biden accepted an invitation to visit Vatican City in a phone conversation with Pope Francis on Thursday, the White House said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced Thursday that Biden will meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Italian President Sergio Mattarella during the trip. The four-day visit is scheduled for the second week of January, and a meeting between Biden and Pope Francis is expected to take place in front of an audience on January 10.
“President Biden will have an audience with the Pope to discuss efforts to promote peace around the world,” Jean-Pierre said Thursday. “We will also meet with Italian leaders to highlight the strength of the U.S.-Italian relationship, thank Prime Minister Meloni for his strong leadership in the G7 over the past year, and discuss important challenges facing the world. is.”
Italy’s position as G7 chairman changes every year, but it ends in the new year. The G7 is the world’s largest group of developed economies.
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Pope Francis (front row, right) poses for a photo with participants on the second day of the Group of Seven (G7) Summit held at the Borgo Egnazia Resort in Savelletri, Italy, on Friday, June 14, 2024.
Biden’s meeting visit with Pope Francis comes shortly after the Vatican begins the Jubilee Year on Dec. 24. The Jubilee Year is a centuries-old tradition that takes place every 25 years, during which pilgrims travel to Rome to visit the Holy Land and receive forgiveness.
Biden is the second Catholic president in the United States after John F. Kennedy. Throughout his political career, he has met with popes, including Francis. The visit also comes as a reward from Francis, who made his first official visit to the United States when Biden was vice president.
Biden last spoke with Pope Francis in June, when the two discussed both the war in Israel and Russia’s war against Ukraine. During the meeting, the two leaders reportedly emphasized the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza and the need to solidify the hostage agreement. The two leaders also discussed the ongoing humanitarian impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to the U.S. Embassy in Italy.
Palestinians waving Palestinian flags protest in solidarity with the people of the Gaza Strip during Pope Francis (back row) during the weekly Papal Angelus prayer in Vatican City on August 3, 2014.
This is the second time a US president other than Kennedy has met with the pope, having previously met in 2021. In a private meeting, Biden reportedly said, “President Francis’ leadership in fighting the climate crisis and his commitment to ensuring we end the pandemic for everyone through shared vaccines and an equitable global economic recovery. He praised the president’s proposal.
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However, one area where the two leaders differ markedly in their views is abortion. Biden’s pro-choice stance had many critics, including Catholic bishops, questioning whether he would be able to continue receiving Holy Communion early in his presidency. But after a June meeting at the Vatican, Biden said Francis expressed support for Biden to be allowed to continue receiving the sacraments.
On October 29, 2021, Pope Francis met with President Joe Biden during an audience at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City.
Biden’s overseas trip in the final month of his presidential term is expected to be his last.
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The last president to travel abroad in the final month of his term was fellow one-term president George H.W. Bush, which would be a rare occurrence, according to the Associated Press. According to State Department historical records, President Bush traveled to Moscow and Paris on a diplomatic mission to strengthen the nuclear treaty and discuss the ongoing Bosnia war with the French president at the time.
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