Biden praises Pope Francis as ‘truly genuine, decent man’

At a news conference in Rome on Sunday, President Biden praised Pope Francis as a “truly genuine, decent man.” Biden, who met Pope Francis on Friday, said the pontiff gave great solace to the Biden family after his son Beau died in 2015.

Video Transcript

- --if I may, on your meeting with Pope Francis, the more than 50 million Catholics back at home are seeing something play out that has never happened before-- this split in the conservative wing of the Catholic Church moving to deny someone like you, a Catholic president, the sacrament of communion. For these Catholic back home, what did it mean for you to hear Pope Francis in the wake of this-- in the middle of this debate, call you a good Catholic. And did what he tell you, should that put this debate to rest?

JOE BIDEN: Look, I'm not going to-- a lot of this is just personal. Pope Francis has become a-- I don't want to exaggerate-- he's become someone who's provided great solace for my family when my son died. He has, in my view-- there's always been this debate in the Catholic Church going back to Pope John 23rd that talk about how we reach out and embrace people with differences. If you notice what-- well, what the Pope said when he was asked when he first got elected Pope, he was traveling with the press. And they said, what's your position on homosexuality? He said, who am I to judge?

This is a man who is of great empathy. He's a man who understands that part of his Christianity is to reach out and to forgive. And so I just find my relationship with him one that I personally take great solace in. He is a really truly genuine decent man.

And I'll end by saying that, you know, there are an awful lot of people who and many of you-- I'm not putting you in this position. I apologize-- but many of you who are even in the press, who went out of your way to express your empathy and sympathy when I lost the real part of my soul, when I lost my Beau, my son. And my family will never forget, my extended family. Because when I come-- it was only a matter of days since my son had passed away.

And Pope Francis came to the United States to visit with not only President Obama, but with the Catholic Church here. And I was asked if I would accompany him to Philadelphia to the seminary, and anyway-- And I did, but it was-- the wounds were still raw of the loss of my son. And I had my extended family. And you're all tired to see my extended family. They're always around-- my grandchildren, my children, my wife, my daughters-in-law.

And before he left and got on the plane, the Pope asked whether or not he could meet with my family. And we met in a hangar at the Philadelphia airport. And he came in, and he talked to my family for a considerable amount of time, 10, 15 minutes about my son Beau.

And he didn't just generically talk about him. He knew about him. He knew what he did. He knew who he was. He knew he went to school. He knew what a man he was. And it had such a cathartic impact on his children and my wife and our family that it meant a great deal.

And as I meant what I said, everybody was laughing. I didn't realize you all were able to film what I was doing with the Pope when I gave him a command coin. And I meant what I said. This is a man who is someone who is looking to establish peace and decency and honor, not just in the Catholic Church, but just generically.

When I won, he called me to tell me how much he appreciated the fact that I would focus on the poor and focus on the needs of people who are in trouble. So I just-- again, I don't want to talk more about it because so much of it is personal. But he is everything I learned about Catholicism from the time I was a kid going from grade school through high school.

And I have great respect for people who have other religious views. But he's just a fine, decent, honorable man. And we keep in touch.