WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will meet with Pope Francis in January, likely the president’s last international trip, just days before he leaves the Oval Office, the White House announced Thursday.
Biden accepted Francis’ invitation to visit the Vatican during a phone call Thursday with the pope, the White House said in a statement. The two men met several times.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that Biden’s visit to Rome will take place from January 9 to 12, adding that Biden will also meet with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
During Biden’s conversation with the pope, the two men discussed “efforts to promote peace around the world,” the White House said.
“The President thanked the Pope for his continued advocacy to alleviate global suffering, including his work to promote human rights and protect religious freedoms,” according to a White House readout of the leaders’ call.
Before the official White House announcement, reporters asked Biden as he left Marine One whether he planned to visit the pope in January, a trip first reported by the Associated Press.
“Yes, I will see the Pope,” Biden replied.
Biden, the second Roman Catholic president in U.S. history, last met Francis privately during a June visit to Italy for the G7 summit.
During the June meeting, the White House said Biden and Francis discussed the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
“The leaders emphasized the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire and hostage agreement to bring the hostages home and address the critical humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” the White House said in the June statement.
The president was present at the start of the pope’s term in 2013, when Biden, then in his capacity as vice president, led the U.S. delegation for Francis’ inauguration.
Francis, 88 years old, became pope in March 2013 after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.
Biden’s trip to Italy will take place later than his most recent predecessors’ final international trips during their time in office. Newly elected President Donald Trump’s last international trip during his first term was to India in February 2020, shortly before Covid-19 restrictions limited travel, the State Department said. Former President Barack Obama’s last international trip as president was to Peru in November 2016, and former President George W. Bush’s last international trip as president was to Afghanistan in December 2008.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
