From The New York Times:
President Biden told reporters on Friday that Pope Francis had called him a “good Catholic” and said he should keep receiving communion, an unexpected development that appeared to put a papal finger on the scale in a debate raging in the United States’ Roman Catholic Church over whether the president and other Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be denied the sacrament.
Asked by reporters if Francis had told him during their private 75-minute audience whether he should keep receiving communion, Mr. Biden replied, “Yes.”
Mr. Biden said the issue of abortion had not come up during their meeting. “No, it didn’t,” he said. “It came up — we just talked about the fact he was happy that I was a good Catholic and I should keep receiving communion.”
Asked to confirm Mr. Biden’s remarks, Matteo Bruni, the Vatican spokesman, said the Holy See limited its comments to the news release about subjects discussed during the meeting and added, “It’s a private conversation.”
The Vatican — which did not allow public access to the meeting, citing coronavirus concerns — released heavily edited footage and later said in a statement that, in the private part of the meeting, Francis and Mr. Biden had focused “on the joint commitment to the protection and care of the planet, the health care situation and the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the theme of refugees and assistance to migrants.” It added that the talks had touched on human rights and freedom of religion.
And there’s more about the meeting from CNS here.
