The Vatican announced on Monday that Pope Francis told Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he had ”affection” for the American people, but it did not indicate whether the two discussed the current divide among bishops over allowing politicians like President Biden who support abortion to receive Holy Communion.
Pope Francis met with Blinken for about 40 minutes in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, “and it was for the pope, the occasion to recall his 2015 visit and to express his affection and his attention to the people of the United States of America,” the statement said.
The reference was to Francis’ nine-day visit to the US in September 2015 that took the pontiff to Washington, DC, Philadelphia and New York.
The meeting between the pope and America’s top diplomat comes after the US Conference of Catholic Bishops last week voted 168-55 to advance a “teaching document” that they hope will lead to a rebuke of Catholic politicians who continue to receive Communion while supporting abortion.
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The measure will likely be considered during a meeting in November.
“That’s a private matter and I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” Biden told reporters at the White House after the vote.
Francis hasn’t weighed in publicly on the vote by the bishops.
Before the audience with the pope, Blinken said he received a private tour of the “beautiful” Sistine Chapel.
“Today I had the great pleasure of touring the Vatican, including the beautiful Sistine Chapel. The spiritual atmosphere, the divine art, and the impressive architecture left me speechless. Truly stunning,” he posted on his Twitter account.
Blinken also met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, and with Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister.
The three “discussed human rights and religious freedom in China,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
In his meeting with the pope, Blinken ”reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to working closely with the Holy See to address global challenges and the needs of the world’s least fortunate and most vulnerable, including refugees and migrants,” Price said in the statement.
”The Secretary and Pope Francis also discussed China as well as the humanitarian crises in Lebanon, Syria, the Tigray region of Ethiopia, and Venezuela,” the statement continued.
With Post wires