The meeting between US President Joe Biden and Pope Francis lasted some 90 minutes, longer than the pontiff's audiences with Biden's predecessors, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, journalists at the scene said on Friday.
The meeting is the first in Biden's European tour, during which he is set to attend the G20 summit in Rome and UN Climate Change Convention in Glasgow. Biden's audience with Pope Francis began at around noon Rome time (10:00 GMT). It ended at 1:30 p.m. First Lady Jill Biden also attended the trip to the Vatican.
Biden is the second Catholic president of the US, the first since John F Kennedy.
"In his audience with Pope Francis today, President Biden thanked His Holiness for his advocacy for the world's poor and those suffering from hunger, conflict, and persecution. He lauded Pope Francis' leadership in fighting the climate crisis, as well as his advocacy to ensure the pandemic ends for everyone through vaccine sharing and an equitable global economic recovery," the White House said in a statement.
After the head of the Catholic Church, Biden had a meeting with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state.
The meeting between Obama and Pope Francis in 2014 lasted 50 minutes, while Trump spent even less time talking to the pontiff - only 30 minutes. (ANI/Sputnik)
( With inputs from ANI )
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