On Friday, President Biden told reporters that during his meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican, the pontiff told him he should continue to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion, despite his stance on abortion.
As reported by Fox News, Biden said that abortion did not come up during their 90-minute meeting, and they discussed fighting climate change as part of his Build Back Better agenda. The president said “[w]e just talked about the fact that he was happy I'm a good Catholic and I should keep receiving communion." Pope Francis reportedly blessed Biden’s rosary.
President Biden on whether the issue of abortion came up during his meeting with Pope Francis: "No, it didn't … We just talked about the fact he was happy I was a good Catholic and I should keep receiving communion."https://t.co/opHdwuWcbj pic.twitter.com/8XWTGXv3ah
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 29, 2021
This week, as I reported, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki got into a heated exchange with reporter Owen Jensen from Catholic network EWTN when he asked if abortion would be a topic of discussion during Biden’s visit with the Pope. During the exchange, Psaki acknowledged that “there is a great deal of agreement and overlap with the President and Pope Francis on a range of issues,” but “[y]ou are familiar with where the President stands. He’s somebody who stands up for and believes that a woman’s right to choose is important.”
Earlier this year, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops convened to discuss if pro-abortion politicians should be allowed to recieve the sacrament of communion. Shortly after, I covered how Biden’s parish in Washington, D.C. does not plan on refusing him communion, stating that “concerning the issues surrounding offering the Eucharist to American politicians” they “will not deny the Eucharist to persons presenting themselves to receive it.”
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