Roman Pope receives US president

Roman Pope Francis has today received US President Joe Biden, accompanied by his wife Jill.

Report informs, citing foreign media, that the president and the pope had a 90-minute private meeting before heading into an expanded meeting attended by Vatican officials and members of Mr. Biden’s traveling delegation. That group included Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s national security adviser.

With the outbreak of the pandemic, the presence of journalists who covered the pool meetings of world leaders with the Pope was abolished. And despite the mandatory COVID certificate and vaccination of journalists accredited to the Holy See, the practice of letting them to the events was not resumed.

The Holy See Seal Service did not indicate the exact reasons for canceling the live broadcast at the time of the handshake and exchange of greetings, citing restrictive measures.