First lady Jill Biden reaches out to touch President Joe Biden’s hand as they arrive for a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican on October 29. (Evan Vucci / AP)
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at San Damaso courtyard at the Vatican on October 29.
Biden’s meeting with Pope Francis is extremely personal for the president.
“He’s one of our most overtly religious presidents we’ve had in some time,” says Trends Wide White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins. “Almost every Saturday, he goes to mass at 5:30 p.m. in Georgetown. He talks a lot about his religion in his presidential speeches.”
Biden has also quoted the pope several times in his messages around the world, adds Collins.
“This is about a president who brought his rosary beads to the situation room during the raid against Bin Laden when President Obama was in office. It is a profound aspect of his presidency. I don’t think it’s surprising that his second big begins. I travel abroad with this visit, “he said.
There is a stark contrast between the pope’s relationship with former President Trump and President Biden.
“Often you would see Pope Francis trying to serve as a moral counterpart when Trump was in office, talking about building walls and many of the policies he had – such a different message that the pope carried around the world,” Collins remarks.
On the other hand, the positions of Biden and the pope are intertwined on certain global issues, he added, such as on the issue of nationalism.
“This shows how symbolic this relationship is, but also how often they coincide on some of these political issues.”
Obviously, this meeting will also be a personal discussion between the two behind closed doors, he said.
