Biden praises Pope Francis as 'the most significant warrior for peace I've ever met'

(Image credit: TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images)

published 29 October 2021

President Biden during his European trip on Friday held a lengthy meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, praising him as a "warrior for peace."

Biden wrapped up a meeting with the pope on Friday that the Vatican said lasted about 75 minutes. CNN Vatican Correspondent Delia Gallagher described this as a "very long time" for a one-on-one meeting between a president and the pope and "definitely one of the longest meetings" for Pope Francis. Indeed, CBS' Weijia Jiang noted former President Barack Obama's 2014 meeting with the pope lasted 50 minutes, while former President Donald Trump's lasted about a half-hour in 2017.

The White House said Friday there was "laughter and clear rapport between" Biden and the pope during their "warm" conversation, which CNN's Kaitlan Collins also noted was almost twice the length of Biden's meeting with Pope John Paul II in 1980. Video released by the Vatican showed Biden telling the pope he's the "most significant warrior for peace I've ever met," gifting him a coin and telling him "my son would want me to give this to you." Biden also joked, "Next time I see you, if you don't have it, you have to buy the drinks." After seeing this footage, Gallagher said on CNN, "Now I understand why the meeting took so long. They were probably sharing jokes back and forth and sharing stories."

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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.

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