Joe Biden and Pope Francis had a long, private meeting Friday at the Vatican, though there is no word about if it included Biden’s hypocrisy on abortion.
Ahead of the meeting, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the two would discuss human rights issues, but abortion would not be one of them. However, many Catholics were urging the pope to correct Biden, who professes to be a devout Catholic, about his radical pro-abortion actions.
Reuters reports their meeting Friday was “unusually long,” 1 hour and 15 minutes one-on-one plus another 15 minutes with a group taking pictures and giving gifts. Biden and the pope also met with several cardinals and White House aids briefly after their one-on-one meeting, according to Fox News.
Most of the information about their meeting came from the Vatican, which prohibited live press coverage at the last minute Thursday – a move that angered many journalists and Catholics.
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The White House issued a brief statement after the meeting, saying “Biden thanked His Holiness for his advocacy for the world’s poor and those suffering from hunger, conflict and persecution” and praised his “leadership in fighting the climate crisis, as well as his advocacy to ensure the pandemic ends for everyone through vaccine sharing and an equitable global economic recovery.”
Several U.S. bishops urged Pope Francis to speak to the American president about the evils of his abortion advocacy. They noted how the pope repeatedly has condemned the killing of unborn babies in abortions as “murder” and compared it to “hiring a hitman.”
“Dear Pope Francis, you have boldly stated that abortion is ‘murder.’ Please challenge President Biden on this critical issue. His persistent support of abortion is an embarrassment for the Church and a scandal to the world,” Bishop Thomas Tobin, of Providence, Rhode Island, wrote on Twitter before the meeting.
Recently, U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke also criticized pro-abortion politicians who profess to be Catholic for creating “grave scandal” by making it seem as though Catholics can support the killing of unborn babies in abortions. Burke did not mention Biden by name.
“They have, in fact, contributed in a significant way to the consolidation of a culture of death in the United States, in which procured abortion is simply a fact of daily life,” Burke said.
Though Biden professes to be Catholic, he has been pushing the most radical pro-abortion policies of any president in history, including allowing mail-order abortions and forcing taxpayers to fund abortions. His administration also is fighting to overturn a pro-life Texas law that has saved thousands of unborn babies from abortion in the past two months alone.
Many bishops expressed concerns that Biden’s claims about being a devout Catholic coupled with his radical abortion advocacy are misleading Catholics and creating scandal for the faith. They have said the church must do something to make it clear that Catholics cannot support the grave moral evil of abortion and must repent before participating in Communion.
In November, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is expected to consider a teaching document on Communion that could send a message to pro-abortion Catholics like Biden about the sin of abortion.
After the pope’s meeting with Biden, Tyler, Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland, a strong pro-life voice, urged Catholics to pray for everyone who participates in the Eucharist without repenting of their sins.
“I implore all to offer prayers of repentance, reparation & atonement for all the blasphemies against Jesus Christ especially the reception of His Body & Blood with no thought of confessing mortal sin,” Strickland wrote on Twitter. “This desecration of His sacred Body & Blood is an abomination. We must repent!”
