Joe and Jill Biden used a massive 85-car motorcade to wind through the streets of Rome on Friday for their meeting with Pope Francis.
And the notoriously late president was on time for his sit down with the pontiff. Biden met with the pope for 75 minutes when he was scheduled to be with him for only an hour. In 2017, Francis met then President DonaldTrump for 30 minutes and, in 2014, Francis met with then President Barack Obama for 52 minutes.
The president then joined senior Vatican officials for an expanded bilateral meeting. But with his time at the Vatican running long, Biden looks to be late for his afternoon meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
The long chain of vehicles to transport the first couple was needed as Italy's lockdown rules allow only three non-cohabiting people including the driver to be together in a vehicle.
Biden's car, known as The Beast, pulled into the courtyard of the Vatican at noon for his meeting with the pope. The president and first lady held inside for a minute while the papal delegation lined up outside to greet them.
'It's good to be back,' the president told one of the Papal gentlemen. 'I'm Jill's husband,' he also said, which is one of his trademark greetings.
Joe and Jill Biden used a massive 85-car motorcade to wind through the streets of Rome on Friday for their meeting with Pope Francis
Extra cars were needed as Italy's lockdown rules allow only three non-cohabiting people including the driver to be together in a vehicle
The presidential limo known as The Beast moves through the streets of Rome
Biden, who is nearly always running late, as on time for his meeting with the Pope
Biden's motorcade approaches Vatican City
President Biden exits his car upon his arrival at the Vatican
The meeting comes after the Vatican abruptly canceled a planned live broadcast of the meeting - and White House reporters were left standing outside in the courtyard.
The Vatican press office provided no explanation for why press coverage was limited to the president's motorcade arriving in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace, where Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza, the head of Papal Household, greeted him.
Cancelled was any live coverage of Biden actually greeting the pope in the palace Throne Room, as well as the live footage of the two men sitting down to begin their private talks in Francis' library.
The Vatican said it would provide edited footage of the encounter.
The Bidens' motorcade was 85 cars long, due to Italian COVID-19 rules, which only allow four people per vehicle.
The first lady wore a traditional mantilla veil with an animal print dark suit.
Biden, the country's second Catholic president, met with the pope amid pressures from conservatives in the American church who want to admonish politicans who support abortion rights but take communion.
Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza (right) welcomes President Joe Biden (center) and First Lady Jill Biden (left) to the Vatican Friday for their meeting with Pope Francis
The Pope's gentlemen (right) greet President Joe Biden (second from left) and First Lady Jill Biden (left) upon their arrival Friday at the Vatican
President Joe Biden (center) and First Lady Jill Biden (left) arrive at the San Damaso courtyard at the Vatican in Rome
First Lady Jill Biden wore a traditional mantilla veil with an animal print dark suit
'I'm Jill's husband,' President Joe Biden said introducing himself to the Papal gentlemen
The motorcade of President Joe Biden drives across the Via della Conciliazione in Rome. The motorcade was 85 cars long, due to Italy's COVID-19 restrictions
The Swiss Guards prepare for the arrival of President Joe Biden for a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican
President Joe Biden arrives in the San Damaso courtyard in the Vatican for his planned meeting with Pope Francis
Biden, a devout Catholic, attends weekly mass and Catholic holy days. He carries rosary beads that belonged to his deceased son Beau and he keeps a photo of himself and the Pope behind his desk in the Oval Office in the first row of pictures next to ones with his family.
It's the fourth time the two men have met and was Biden's first stop on his five-day trip to Europe. He'll also attend the G20 meeting in Rome over the weekend before heading to Scotland on Monday for the UN Climate Summit known was COP26.
Biden's sitdown with Pope Francis comes as his administration is fighting Texas' abortion law, the most restrictive law in the nation, which bans abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected and that is normally after six weeks and before many women even know they are pregnant.
Meanwhile, shortly after Biden's meeting with Pope Francis, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will convene in Baltimore in mid-November where it will debate whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be admonished for receiving Communion.
White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldn't say whether or not Biden would receive communion during his Vatican visit.
'That's very personal,' she said. 'I don't have anything to share about that.'
The Swiss Guards prepare for the arrival of President Joe Biden for a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican
A handout from the Italian State Police shows snipers on a rooftop in Rome near the Vatican, as world leaders flock to the city for the G20. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visited with Pope Francis at noon on Friday
President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, keeps a photo of himself and Pope Francis on his desk in the Oval Office, it can be seen above to the left of the president
President Biden and First Lady Jill touched down in Rome at 2:30 am local time
Then Vice President Joe Biden (left) and Pope Francis (right), with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell standing behind them, wave from a balcony at the U.S. Capitol after the Pope addressed a joint-session of Congress in September 2015
In June, the divided U.S. Conference of Bishiops voted to draft a statement on communion that some bishops say should specifically admonish these Catholic politicians, including Biden, the second Catholic president after John F. Kennedy. They did so despite warning from the Vatican such a move could sow seeds of discord. The bishops will discuss the issue further at their November gathering.
Biden takes communion. He has said he is personally opposed to abortion but cannot impose his views as an elected leader.
It's unclear if Biden and Pope Francis will discuss abortion at their private meeting on Friday, their first since Biden became president. Francis has strongly upheld the church's opposition to abortion, calling it 'murder.'
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday that the two men will discuss climate change, migration and income inequality.
And White House Jen Paski said the two men would focus on what areas they have in common.
'There is a great deal of agreement and overlap with the President and Pope Francis on a range of issues: poverty, combating the climate crisis, ending the COVID-19 pandemic. These are all hugely important, impactful issues that will be the centerpiece of what their discussion is when they meet,' she said.
Biden will also meet with His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, while at the Vatican.
First lady Jill Biden will join the president for his audience with the pope.
Then-Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands with Pope Francis in September 2015 when the pope addressed a joint session of Congress
Pope Francis (left) greets then Vice President Joe Biden (right) at the Vatican in April 2016, before President Donald Trump was elected. Biden's son Hunter (second from right) and son-in-law Howard Krein (center) stand along his side
Biden talked about his relationship with Pope Francis last October when he addressed the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner, doing so from Wilmington's Queen theater because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Biden talked about his first meeting with Pope Francis during the Pope's 2013 inauguration at the Vatican when Biden was vice presdient.
'When I greeted him he said, "Mr. Vice President you're always welcome here,"' Biden said. 'He was really sending a message to the world to put out a welcome sign in the front door of our church.'
Biden also mentioned Pope Francis' trip to the White House in 2015 - when he was in office with President Barack Obama - saying that like his visit to the Vatican in 2013, it gave him the sense of 'hope and possibility together.'
'And for me it came at a very personal moment, a very tough time in the life of my family. Our son Beau had just died a few months earlier,' Biden said. 'Pope Francis took the time to meet with my entire family to help us see the light through the darkness.'
Biden, as vice president, also traveled to the Vatican in April 2016 for a stem cell conference.
At the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner, Biden said that his friendship with Pope Francis was proof that 'anything is possible' in the U.S.
'I live in an amazing country, we all live in an amazing country,' Biden said. 'Where an Irish-Catholic kid like me from Scranton, Pennsylvania would one day befriend a Jesuit Pope.'
'But that's who we are as a country,' Biden said.
Post a Comment