Biden WILL meet the Pope during the G7 in Italy… despite the president’s abortion rights push

President Joe Biden will meet Pope Francis at the G7 top in Italythe White House finally confirmed hours before the start of the event.

Pope Francis was already listed as a participant in a G7 session on artificial intelligence in the Apulia region, raising the prospect of him meeting again with the country’s second Catholic president.

When they last met in October 2021, Biden Pope Francis told him he was a ‘fighter for peace’. Much has changed since then, and now the two men are about to meet in the midst of two brutal wars as Biden fights for re-election by rallying behind the banner of abortion rights.

In a re-election bid where he is trailing Donald Trump in the polls, the abortion issue could motivate Biden’s base. The issue has stirred intense passions and led to higher voter turnout in states that have put abortion measures on the agenda since the election High Council‘s 2022 decision striking down Roe v. Wade.

‘A vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is a vote to reinstate Roe, and a vote for Donald Trump is a vote to ban abortion nationwide,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said earlier this year, underscoring the importance of the issue. ‘This is the focus in 2024.’

The Pope has called abortion “murder” and said he respects the Supreme Court’s decision, but he also has some conservatives in the American Catholic Church for “backwardness” and lamented that “ideologies replace faith.”

The Vatican had announced that the 87-year-old pope would attend the meeting AI session this spring.

Biden, 81, has also warned of the risks of AI and has taken steps to preserve it China of acquiring the most advanced AI technology from American companies.

‘You are the most important fighter for peace I have ever met,’ Biden told Pope Francis when they met in 2021

Their 2021 meeting at the Vatican was vintage Biden. The new Catholic president gave the pope a challenge coin, joked about who would buy the drinks at their next meeting and told a story about Satchell Paige.

“You are the most important fighter for peace I have ever met,” Biden told Pope Francis, speaking to a translator who was with them.

‘And with your permission, I would like to give you a coin. That’s the tradition, and I’m just kidding about this. Next time I see you, if you don’t have it, you have to buy the drinks. I’m the only Irishman you’ve ever met who’s never had a drink.’

Biden’s jokes set a jovial tone for the relationship and the pope asked first lady Jill Biden to pray for him.

But they have some things they disagree on as politics evolve over the war in Gaza, abortion and immigration.

The abortion issue continues to cause controversy in the US and Europe. An activist from the feminist and transfeminist movement ‘Non una di meno’ (Not one less) holds a sign reading ‘no more stigma on abortion’ during a demonstration for abortion rights, in Rome, Italy, May 25, 2024

Pro-choice activists hold signs during the annual anti-abortion rally in New York City, March 23, 2024. The Biden campaign plans to delve heavily into the issue of abortion rights in a contest that will see Biden motivating his base supporters to amid bad polls. against Donald Trump

Pope Francis has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, where Biden is implementing a phased plan that would pause the fighting, free hostages and eventually end it.

Francis called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza this spring, even as the US continued to arm the Israeli army.

“I hope that the submitted peace proposals on all fronts and for the release of hostages will be immediately accepted in the interests of the Palestinians and Israelis.”

The two men had a 20-minute phone conversation days after the Hamas attack in Israel. They discussed “conflict situations in the world and the need to identify paths to peace,” the Vatican said.

John Kirby, White House national security spokesman dodged a question during a briefing with reporters on Tuesday when asked about a possible papal meeting.

‘You’ll hear more about it [national security advisor Jake Sullivan] tomorrow on details of the agenda,” he said. The announcement was later confirmed in an official schedule overnight.

It also notes that Biden will meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and attend a skydiving demonstration. He plans to leave Italy Friday after two days of meetings, making a quick surprise trip to Wilmington after a jury found son Hunter guilty on gun charges.