CV NEWS FEED // President Joe Biden greeted Pope Francis on Friday during the 50th G7 summit of world leaders in Fasano, Italy.
The New York Post described the encounter between the two most powerful men in the world, reporting: “Biden embraced a surprised-looking Pope Francis with an intimate forehead-to-forehead hug.”
“The 87-year-old pontiff had been wheeled into a room of world leaders to take part in a discussion of issues surrounding artificial intelligence, energy and the Africa-Mediterranean region,” the Post stated. “He is the first pope ever to attend a G7 gathering.”
Biden also joined the pope for a private meeting later in the day.
Some observers noted that Biden’s unconventional greeting of Francis violated agreed protocols for Catholics. The president is a self-professed Catholic, despite a record gravely at odds with Church teachings on the sanctity of life, sexual morality, and marriage.
The Daily Wire correspondent Bree Dail posted a video of the encounter, which she described as “strange.”
Dail, a longtime Vatican correspondent, wrote: “Protocol for Catholics, like the President, when greeting the Pope is kissing the Papal Ring (signifying their respect and fidelity to the Successor of Peter).”
It is unclear whether Biden kissed Francis’ ring at another point during the encounter – although if he did, it was not seen on the video of the greeting.
CatholicVote took to X to respond to Biden’s bizarre greeting of the pontiff with a post headlined, “A TALE OF TWO PRESIDENTS.”
The organization’s post juxtaposed “Trump greeting Pope Francis with grace and dignity” alongside “Joe Biden head-butting and sniffing Pope Francis at the Vatican today after jailing believers.”
“Who do you think has more respect for the Catholic Church?” CatholicVote asked.
In April, Catholics widely rebuked Biden after he made the sign of the cross at a Florida rally in support of the state’s pro-abortion ballot initiative, Amendment 4. Bishop Thomas Paprocki, who chairs the U.S. bishops’ Committee for Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, denounced Biden’s “sacrilegious gesture” and condemned it as a “mockery of the faith.”
Readers can find CatholicVote’s Biden Report: A Timeline for Catholics here.
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