President Joe Biden received Communion at St. Patrick’s Church on Saturday, a day after he said Pope Francis told him he could continue to receive the Eucharist, despite opposition from some conservatives in the United States. United, upset by his stance on abortion.
The Biden couple visited an English-speaking church which is the main place of worship for the American Catholic community in Rome and which is located near the United States Embassy. The president stopped between meetings of the G20 summit which is taking place in this city this weekend.
While Joe Biden regularly receives Communion in his home dioceses in Washington and Delaware, receiving Communion in Rome represents a strong symbolic gesture. The Pope is technically the Bishop of Rome, and although he delegates this to his Vicar, St. Patrick’s Parish is technically in the Pope’s Archdiocese. Joe Biden therefore received Communion in the Archdiocese of the Pope.
About 30 people attended mass, and security guards surrounded the aisles. The Biden couple were seated in the last row which was “reserved”.
Mass was celebrated by Reverend Joe Ciccone and two priests. President Biden waved to two women in the rows in front of him as he arrived with his wife Jill by his side. No particular announcement was made at the start of Mass.
The President has deposited US currency into the collection basket.
Before the collection, a layman said from the altar that the parish welcomes everyone, including visitors, and noted that the parish does not receive any funding from the Archdiocese of Rome or the Vatican.
The president’s support for the right to abortion put him in an awkward position with many American bishops, some of whom have suggested he should be denied communion. U.S. bishops are scheduled to hold their annual fall conference in mid-November and will find themselves debating a possible reprimand for the U.S. president.
Joe Biden told reporters on Friday that abortion was not discussed during his 75-minute meeting with Pope Francis. “We just talked about how happy he was that I was a good Catholic and that I should continue to receive Communion,” Joe Biden said.
The Vatican spokesperson declined to comment on Joe Biden’s comments on communion, noting that the Vatican does not comment on the Pope’s private conversations beyond what is written in the official statement, which makes no mention of the question.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement after the Vatican meeting that did not address Joe Biden’s remark on communion. Instead, the statement suggested that the president would not be singled out in any documents emanating from the bishops’ meeting next month.
The document “is intended to speak of the beauty of the encounter with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and is addressed to all Catholics,” the statement said.
Pope Francis has stressed that he will not reject political leaders who support the right to abortion, although Catholic policy allows individual bishops to choose to prevent people from receiving Communion.