Biden Meets With Pope Francis

BIANNA GOLODRYGA: There is a special connection, religion aside, between President Biden and Pope Francis. Obviously, this is the second U.S. Catholic president. And Pope Francis is the first pope from the Americas. Talk a bit more about their history leading up to today’s meeting.

CARDINAL BLASE CUPICH, ARCHBISHOP OF CHICAGO: Well, good to be with you, Bianna. Thank you for having me. I think that they have met now — this is the fourth time that they have met. So they have a connection with each other. And they come at the — their leadership is — in a way that looks for ways in which the church and society can work together. And so I think that this was an opportunity to deepen that relationship and that conversation.

GOLODRYGA: And it is a relationship that is personal too, because we know, in 2015, when the pope was visiting the United States, it came just months after then-Vice President Biden had lost his son Beau. And, in condolences, he expressed his warmth in private meetings. And Biden was — I don’t want to quote him directly, but said something along the lines of he meant more — that meeting meant more to him than anyone would ever know. Today, they exchanged gifts. And we saw the president give Pope Francis a coin. And he said: I know my son would want me to give this to you because on the back of it, I have the state of Delaware, the 261st Unit my son served with. If next time I don’t see you, you don’t have it, you have to buy me drinks. But their personal relationships and some of that humor aside, today was more than just symbolic, obviously, because there has been some real backlash that President Biden has faced from within his own religious community here, from the pope’s — in the United States, obviously, given his stance on abortion. And a really big headline came out of this meeting today. Obviously, it was private. But we did hear the president say that Pope Francis told him that he was a — quote — “good Catholic” and that he should continue receiving communion. For our audience around the world who may not be as versed into this controversy, how significant were those words from the pope?

CUPICH: Well, of course, I wasn’t at the meeting, but I’m not surprised by that. The — of course, the pope would say something like this. He’s a pastor. And I think that’s the lens through which we need to look at this relationship. The Holy Father wants to be a pastor to people and to accompany them. And I think he’s calling all of the bishops to follow that same model. He has said before, we have to be pastors, not politicians. And he’s setting the example here.