This Friday's meeting between President Joe Biden and Pope Francis at the Vatican was particularly relaxed.
In a 75-minute meeting, which exceeded the 30 minutes that the pontiff dedicated to Donald Trump or the 50 to Barack Obama, the pontiff and Biden clasped hands in friendship as they spoke, according to images provided by the Holy See.
There were also moments when Francis laughed at the words of the president, the second Catholic president in the history of the United States to be received by a pope after John F. Kennedy.
The president, Joe Biden, and Pope Francis, this Friday, October 29, 2021 at the Vatican.
After the conversation, in which they addressed the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate emergency, they exchanged formal gifts.
Biden presented the pope with a coin with the US seal on one side and the insignia of the 261st Signal Brigade of the Delaware Army National Guard on the other, the unit in which the president's late son, Beau Biden, served as captain.
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"My son would have wanted me to have this coin
," Biden said.
He then jokingly added: "Tradition says that if you don't have it at our next meeting, you will have to pay for the drinks."
After chuckling, the pope joked, "The Irish love whiskey."
Asked if they had spoken about their position on abortion rights, Biden replied: “No, we did not.
We only talked about the fact that he was happy that I was a good Catholic and that I should continue to receive communion. "
President Joe Biden and Pope Francis at the Vatican, Friday, October 29, 2021.
The president also gave the pope a 1930 hand-embroidered chasuble from the Society of Jesus, which belongs to the collection of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Washington, where Biden goes to mass on Sundays.
The pope, for his part, gave Biden a ceramic that represents a pilgrim, his writings and his message for the Day of Peace.
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