Pope Francis Gives President-Elect Joe Biden His Blessing

Pope Francis and Biden spoke on the phone, and the president-elect reportedly expressed that the two should work together.

While President Donald Trump may not be acknowledging that Joe Biden is the new president-elect, Pope Francis is giving him his blessing.

According to the Biden transition team, Biden spoke with Pope Francis this morning. “The president-elect thanked His Holiness for extending blessings and congratulations and noted his appreciation for His Holiness’ leadership in promoting peace, reconciliation, and the common bonds of humanity around the world.”

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The statement adds that Biden “expressed his desire to work together on the basis of a shared belief in the dignity and equality of all humankind on issues such as caring for the marginalized and the poor, addressing the crisis of climate change, and welcoming and integrating immigrants and refugees into our communities.”

Pope Francis has been incredibly vocal about his political views, including embracing same-sex civil unions and saying that capitalism made the pandemic worse. Back in 2016, Pope Francis made comments that many say were in reference to Trump. 

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According to the BBC, while on a plane with journalists on his way back home to Rome from Mexico, Pope Francis said: “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not of building bridges, is not Christian.”

In 2017, Pope Francis called Trump a hypocrite for his “pro-life” views because of the president’s policies against DACA.

“The president of the United States presents himself as pro-life, and if he is a good pro-lifer, he understands that family is the cradle of life and its unity must be protected,” he said, according to CNN. 

President-elect Biden, who will be only the second Catholic to serve as president of the US (President John F. Kennedy was the first), quoted Pope Francis during his presidential campaign. 

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In October, during a stop in Georgia, Biden brought up questions that Pope Francis wrote about in his new encyclical Fratelli Tutti.  

“At times, in thinking of the future, we do well to ask ourselves, ‘Why I am doing this?’ ‘What is my real aim?'” Pope Francis wrote. 

Biden quoted that line and added, “Pope Francis has asked questions that anyone who seeks to lead this great nation should answer.”