Before the change of power in the USA
Farewell trip to Italy: Biden visits Pope in January
US President Joe Biden leaves office on January 20th. A few days beforehand he is planning one last official trip abroad.
The outgoing US President Joe Biden is planning one last trip abroad and a meeting with Pope Francis in Rome shortly before the end of his term in office. The White House announced Biden would travel to the Italian capital from January 9th to 12th. On January 10th he will have an audience with the Pope there to talk about efforts for peace in the world. Meetings with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are also planned.
The US government headquarters said Biden and the Pope spoke by phone on Thursday. The US President accepted an invitation to the Vatican.
Biden (82) and the Pope (88) last met in June at the summit of the Group of Seven Western Industrial Nations (G7), which took place in Italy this year. The two greeted each other very friendly with a touch on the forehead.
Biden is a devout Catholic and only the second Catholic president in US history after John F. Kennedy (1961 to 1963). The Democrat goes to church every weekend. In October 2021, Biden was received as president by the Pope.
Francis is the head of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide and also the head of state of the Vatican. Biden, on the other hand, will no longer be in the executive chair in the White House: On January 20th, he will hand over the reins of office to the Republican Donald Trump.
dpa
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
