U.S. President Joe Biden said he was told Friday that he should keep receiving communion despite his support for abortion.
Biden met with Pope Francis in Vatican City behind closed doors.
The topic of abortion did not come up, the president told reporters afterward.
“We just talked about the fact that he was happy that I was a good Catholic,” he claimed.
Asked if the pope said he should keep receiving communion, POTUS said “yes.”
Biden has been in danger of being denied communion since the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in June voted to approve the drafting of a document relating to how abortion supporters should be treated. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), another Catholic who supports abortion, was told the following month that “no one can claim to be a devout Catholic and condone the killing of innocent human life, let alone have the government pay for it.”
Biden told reporters he did not take communion with the pope. Asked if he discussed the U.C. Conference of Catholic Bishops, he said, that was a “private conversation.”
The pope has said before that Catholics who support abortion should not be excommunicated. However, he has said that there is no question that “abortion is homicide.”
A communique from the Holy See Press Office said the discussion between the pope and Biden focused on “their common commitment to the protection and care of the planet, the health situation and the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the issue of refugees, and how to provide assistance for migrants,” a report by Vatican News said.
A White House readout said Biden thanked the pope “for his advocacy for the world’s poor and those suffering from hunger, conflict, and persecution” and lauded 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.”
