Biden says pope told him to ‘keep receiving Communion’ in spite of support for abortion rights

President Joe Biden says Pope Franics told him he was a “good Catholic” and that he should “keep receiving Communion” in spite of the former’s robust support for abortion rights. 

The alleged endorsement came during a private exchange Friday between the two world leaders in Rome. Biden told reporters that the subject of abortion did not arise during the meeting. 

The Catholic Church holds that abortion constitutes the unjust killing of an innocent human being and is morally proscribed. Many Church authorities and experts have argued that voluntarily cooperating in an abortion constitutes a mortal sin, an action that enjoins Catholics from receiving the Eucharist at Mass each week. 

The two leaders “talked about the fact he was happy that I was a good Catholic and I should keep receiving Communion,” Biden also told reporters.

Biden and Francis reportedly discussed a wide-ranging set of topics, including climate change, the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic, and other matters.