President Joe Biden criss-crossed Rome in a presidential motorcade that ran to 85 cars – to kick off a trip that will conclude with a climate summit in Glasgow.
The president travels with a large contingent of military officials, aides, and medical personnel.
But this time, his retinue was padded even further for his audience with Pope Francis – his fourth. Biden’s motorcade in Rome was extended by the COVID-19 restrictions of Italy, which limits passengers to four vehicles.
Biden rides in ‘the Beast,’ and almost every trip he makes includes a second fully armored Presidential limousine. It also includes special communications vehicles, an ambulance, police escorts, and vehicles containing armed agents – along with vans carrying photographers and press who shadow the president wherever he travels.
A meeting with the pope is one that aides are eager to attend, and Biden’s was no exception.
The White House provided a manifest that showed Biden led a group of twelve people, which included the first lady and White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor. Security advisor Jake Sullivan and senior advisor Mike Donilon. The president was accompanied, among others, by senior officials such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken (National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan) and other senior officials.
All the big shots resulted in even more cars. A pool reporter on the trip with the president mentioned the 85-car number. Rome Washington Post journalist tweetedCheck out the video of the extended motorcade.
It was difficult for us to estimate the fleet’s carbon footprint, even though many of them are gas-guzzlers powered by the Beast’s reported 244 horsepower engine. This means that we must transport a Cadillac with eight-inch plating.
Joe and Jill Biden used a huge 85-car motorcade to travel through Rome on Friday for their meeting in Rome with Pope Francis
Biden was transported by the motorcade to a meeting at Vatican City with Pope Francis. He won millions of fans for his humble approach towards the papal role. Pope Francis also has spoken at length of the threat posed by climate change. Biden will announce $550 billion in new programs to protect the environment at the upcoming summit. This is in addition to his Build Back Better framework that he presented before he flew to Rome on Air Force One, another gas guzzler.
Friday saw the pope in his car. He rodeIn the back seat a Fiat.
Joe and Jill Biden used a massive 85-car motorcade to wind through the streets of Rome on Friday for their meeting with And the notoriously late president was on time for his sit-down with the pontiff. Biden met with Pope Francis for 75 minutes, although he was supposed to be with him for just an hour. In 2017, Francis had a 30-minute meeting with Donald Trump, while in 2014, he met with Barack Obama for 52 minutes.
The president then met with senior Vatican officials to have an extended bilateral meeting. But when his time at the Vatican ran long, Biden was late for his afternoon meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
“It’s good that you’re back,” the president said to one of the Papal gentlemen. He also said, “I am Jill’s husband,” which is his trademark greeting.
Italy’s lockdown rules forbid three people, including the driver, from sharing a vehicle with another person. This meant that extra cars were required
The Beast, the presidential limo, moves through Rome on its way to Rome
Biden, who almost always runs late, is on time for his meeting at the Pope
Biden’s motorcade approaches Vatican City
After arriving at the Vatican, President Biden gets out of his car.
The meeting comes after the Vatican abruptly canceled a planned live broadcast of the meeting – and White House reporters were left standing outside in the courtyard.
The Vatican press office provided no explanation for why press coverage was limited to the president’s motorcade arriving in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace, where Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza, the head of Papal Household, greeted him.
Biden, the second Catholic president of the United States, met with the pope amid pressures by conservatives in America’s church who want to warn politicians who support abortion rights, but do not receive communion.
Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza, right, welcomes President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden to the Vatican Friday for a meeting with Pope Francis
The Pope’s gentlemen greet President Joe Biden (second row from left) & First Lady Jill Biden upon their arrival Friday at Vatican
President Joe Biden (center), and First Lady Jill Biden are seen arriving at the San Damaso courtyard in the Vatican in Rome.
First Lady Jill Biden wore a traditional mantilla veil with an animal print dark suit
President Joe Biden introduced himself to the Papal Gentlemen by saying, “I’m Jill’s husband,”
The motorcade of President Joe Biden drives across the Via della Conciliazione in Rome. The motorcade was 85 car long due to Italy’s COVID-19 limitations
The Swiss Guards prepare for President Joe Biden’s arrival at the Vatican for a meeting to Pope Francis.
President Joe Biden arrives at the Vatican’s San Damaso courtyard to meet with Pope Francis
Biden is a Catholic and attends weekly Mass. He carries rosary beads that belonged to his deceased son Beau and he keeps a photo of himself and the Pope behind his desk in the Oval Office in the first row of pictures next to ones with his family.
It’s the fourth time the two men have met and was Biden’s first stop on his five-day trip to Europe. He will also attend the G20 meeting at Rome this weekend, before heading to Scotland Monday for the UN Climate Summit (COP26).
Biden’s sitdown with Pope Francis comes as his administration is fighting Texas’ abortion law, the most restrictive law in the nation, which bans abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected and that is normally after six weeks and before many women even know they are pregnant.
In the meantime, in Baltimore, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will meet in mid November to discuss whether Catholic politicians supporting abortion rights should be warned about receiving Communion.
Karine Jean-Pierre, White House principal deputy press secretary, wouldn’t confirm whether Biden would be receiving communion during his Vatican visit.
She said, “That’s very personal.” “I don’t have any information to share about this.”
The Swiss Guards prepare for President Joe Biden’s arrival at the Vatican for a meeting to Pope Francis.
A handout by the Italian State Police shows snipers occupying a rooftop in Rome near to the Vatican as world leaders flood into the city for G20. At noon on Friday, President Joe Biden and First lady Jill Biden met with Pope Francis.
President Joe Biden is a committed Catholic and keeps a photo of Pope Francis and himself on his desk in Oval Office. It can be seen to the left of him
President Biden, First Lady Jill and Jill arrived in Rome around 2:30 AM local.
After Pope Francis’ September 2015 address to a joint-session Congress, Vice President Joe Biden (left), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (right) waved from a balcony at Capitol.
The U.S. Conference of Bishops, divided, voted in June to draft a Communion statement. Some bishops feel it should specifically caution these Catholic politicians, which includes Biden, the second Catholic president following John F. Kennedy. Despite warnings by the Vatican, they decided to do so. The November gathering of the bishops will continue to discuss the matter.
Biden takes communion. Biden takes communion.
Biden said that he and Francis did not discuss abortion in private meetings. Francis strongly supported the church’s opposition against abortion, calling it’murder’
Jake Sullivan, National Security Adviser told reporters Tuesday that Jake Sullivan and Michael Jackson will be discussing climate change, migration, income inequality and other topics.
Jen Paski, White House, said that the men would concentrate on the common areas.
‘There is a lot agreement and overlap with President Obama and Pope Francis about a variety of issues: poverty and combating the climate crisis, and ending the COVID-19 epidemic. These are all very important and significant issues that will be the center of their discussion when they meet,’ she said.
Biden also met with His Eminence, Cardinal Pietro Parolin while at the Vatican.
Joe Biden, the then-Vice President of Joe Biden, shakes hands during Pope Francis’ September 2015 address to Congress
Pope Francis (left), greets Joe Biden (right), at the Vatican in April 2016, just before President Donald Trump was inaugurated. Biden’s son Hunter (second from right) and son-in-law Howard Krein (center) stand along his side
Biden spoke about his relationship to Pope Francis when he addressed Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner last October. He did so from Wilmington’s Queen theater due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic.
Biden, then vice president, spoke about his first meeting at the Vatican with Pope Francis. It was during the Pope’s 2013 inauguration.
Biden said that he greeted me when I approached him. He was really trying to send a message out to the world that he would put up a welcome sign at the church’s front door.
Biden also mentioned Pope Francis’ 2015 visit to the White House – when he was with President Barack Obama – saying that, like his 2013 visit to the Vatican, it gave him hope and possibility.
“And it came at an extremely personal moment, a very difficult time in my family’s life. Biden explained that Beau, Beau’s son, had just passed away a few months before. “Pope Francis took the time and met with my entire family to help me see the light in the darkness.
Vice President Biden also visited the Vatican in April 2016 to attend a stem cell conference.
Biden spoke at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner and said that his friendship to Pope Francis was proof that “anything” is possible in the U.S.
Biden stated that he lives in an amazing nation, and that all Americans live in an amazing place. “Where an Irish-Catholic child like me from Scranton in Pennsylvania would one day become friends with a Jesuit Pope.
Biden stated, “But that’s who our country is as a nation.”
Past presidential meetings with popes
Here are some highlights from past presiential meetings of pontifs:
-President John F. Kennedy´s 1963 meeting with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican was historic: The first Roman Catholic president of the United States was seeing the Roman Catholic pontiff only days after his coronation. Kennedy, who was confronted by anti-Catholic bias during the presidential campaign, shook hands instead of kissing his ring. This is the normal practice for Catholics.
-Pope Paul VI´s trip to New York in October 1965 presented protocol problems. President Lyndon Johnson wanted the pontiff to see him, but he was a chief of an unofficially recognized state. The solution: Johnson flew to New York for dinner at the apartment of his friend Arthur Goldberg, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and the pontiff was welcomed to Johnson´s suite at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel the next day.
-Johnson was known for his penchant to give unusual papal gifts. Paul was presented with a silver-framed, autographed photo of him at that 1965 meeting. Johnson presented the pontiff with a bust of himself a foot high at their second meeting at Vatican two years later.
Jimmy Carter was the first president to host a pope at White House. Pope John Paul II had 10,000 guests during his stay at the White House. The arrival and departure ceremonies were held on the North Lawns.
-President Ronald Reagan had difficulty keeping his eyes open when he visited the Vatican for the first time in 1982. Reagan´s head bobbed and his eyes repeatedly closed for seconds at a time while John Paul talked solemnly of crises in the Falkland Islands and Lebanon. Reagan was on a 10-day European trip, with a packed schedule. But it fed already rampant talk that the 71-year-old president wasn´t physically up to the job.
-In 1984, Reagan caused controversy with his decision to establish diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the Vatican. This was a long-standing desire for the Holy See. Reagan and John Paul were soon reunited at Fairbanks, Alaska airport as they refueled. They had been on the same flight, and their paths crossed when one started his Asia trip. The Alaska stop generated much excitement, as well as scores of T-shirts with the slogan “The Pope Meets Dope”.
President Bill Clinton flew to St. Louis for his fourth meeting with Pope John Paul. He was beginning a U.S. tour and he wanted to say goodbye to him. John Paul, who said that America was facing a trial, stated that the Senate was currently in the throes if its impeachment case against Clinton. It was widely believed that the pontiff, who challenged Americans to a higher moral vision and also challenged them to be more civil, was referring to his long-running, bitter dispute with Clinton over Clinton’s support of abortion rights.
-At George W. Bush´s last meeting with John Paul, at the Vatican in June 2004, he presented the pope with the Medal of Freedom, the nation´s highest civilian honor. The pontiff responded to his concern by reading a statement describing his ‘grave concern’ over the events in Iraq. This was just over a year after the U.S.-led war.
Bush was the first sitting president of the United States to attend a papal funeral after John Paul died in 2005.
-At his first audience with John Paul´s successor, Pope Benedict XVI, Bush´s overly casual behavior was noted by many Italians and Vatican watchers. He addressed the pope as ‘sir,’ rather than the customary ‘your holiness,’ and leaned far back in his chair with one leg thrown informally over another, instead of the ramrod-straight physical posture more commonly seen in the pontiff´s presence. Rome´s ANSA agency flashed a ‘Gaffe Presidente’ headline.
-For Benedict´s first U.S. tour as pope, there were several presidential firsts: Bush traveled to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland to meet the pontiff´s plane, brought the largest crowd of his presidency to the South Lawn for Benedict´s arrival ceremony, and hosted a dinner in the pope´s honor that Benedict didn’t attend.
-Former President Barack Obama met with Pope Francis twice, once at the Vatican in 2014 and again during the pope´s 2015 visit to the U.S., where Obama met Francis on the tarmac at Andrews and played host in the Oval Office. Before 11,000 people on the South Lawn of the White House, Obama praised the pope as a ‘living example of Jesus´ teachings,’ while Francis lauded Obama for his commitment to addressing climate change.
Former President Donald Trump had a notoriously difficult relationship with Pope Francis. The two men fought during the 2016 campaign. Francis took a dig at Trump by saying that people who only think of building bridges instead of barriers are ‘not Christian’. Trump, who campaigned for a wall at the U.S.–Mexico border, called the comments “disgraceful” and suggested that the Mexican government was using Francis to its advantage. The photos of Trump and Francis meeting at the Vatican in 2017 show a stone-faced Francis next to a smiling Trump. Later, the president stated that their meeting was ‘fantastic.
– The Associated Press
This July 2, 1963 file photo shows President John F. Kennedy and Pope Paul VI talking at the Vatican. Kennedy’s meeting at the Vatican with Pope Paul VI was historic. Kennedy was only days after his coronation as the first Roman Catholic president in the United States.
This file photo was taken on March 27, 2014. It shows President Barack Obama and Pope Francis smiling as they meet at Vatican.
This June 13, 2008 file photo shows President George W. Bush and Pope Benedict XVI posing in the Vatican Gardens at their meeting at Vatican.
This file photo, taken May 24, 2017, shows President Donald Trump and Pope Francis meeting at the Vatican for a private audience.