US President Receives Holy Communion After Meeting With Pope Francis 

UNITED States of America president Joe Biden received communion while attending Mass on Saturday night in the American church of Rome, a day after the U.S. president met Pope Francis and said later that the pontiff had told him he is a “good Catholic” who can receive the sacrament.

The Mass and Biden’s statement beforehand widened a gulf between Francis and conservative U.S. bishops who want to deny him the right to receive communion because of Biden’s support for abortion rights.

A person inside the church on Saturday told Reuters the president, who attended the Mass sitting in the back of the church with his wife, Jill, received communion.

Biden regularly attends Mass and receives communion in Washington, where the local archbishop, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, has not made any moves to stop him.

Biden, the second Catholic U.S. president, has said he personally opposes abortion but, as an elected official, cannot impose his views on others.

In Rome, where he was taking part in a summit of the G20 world’s richest nations, he attended the Mass at St. Patrick’s Church, near the U.S. Embassy.

Pope Francis is also the bishop of Rome, so Biden went to Mass and received communion in his archdiocese.

Catholics can attend Mass on Saturday night to fulfil their Sunday obligation.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who is also Catholic, attended Mass in the same church earlier this month but had to leave early because of a security threat connected with people protesting in a nearby square against coronavirus vaccinations.