Biden says Pope told him he should ‘keep receiving Communion’

Pope Francis meets U.S. President Joe Biden at the Vatican, October 29, 2021. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS

ROME — U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday that Pope Francis had told him he should keep receiving Communion, amid fierce debate in the U.S. Church over Biden’s position on abortion.

Biden has come under pressure from conservatives at home and his most ardent critics in the U.S. Church hierarchy have said he should be banned from receiving communion, the central sacrament of the faith.

Asked if the topic of abortion came up during a long meeting with the Pope in the Vatican earlier on Friday, Biden said no. He said the Pope told him he was happy he was a good Catholic and he should “keep receiving Communion.”

The president, who goes to weekly Mass regularly and keeps a picture of the Pope behind his desk in the Oval Office, has said he is personally opposed to abortion but cannot impose his views as an elected leader.

Last month, asked about the U.S. communion debate, Pope Francis told reporters that abortion is “murder.” But he also appeared to criticize U.S. Catholic bishops for dealing with the issue in a political rather than a pastoral way.