Biden to hold a private meeting with Pope Francis on sidelines of G7 summit

BARI, Italy — President Joe Biden is expected to meet with Pope Francis privately Friday on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy, according to a senior administration official.

The pontiff will become the first pope ever to attend G7 discussions and is choosing to focus his attention on artificial intelligence, both its technological advantages and potential dangers.

The meeting between Biden, a devout Catholic who attends Mass weekly, and the leader of the church comes days after a jury found his son Hunter Biden guilty of gun crimes related to his drug addiction. Biden, who frequently talks about the importance of his family and the loss of two of his children and his first wife, has pointed to his faith as guiding him through difficult times.

Biden last met with Pope Francis at the Vatican in October 2021, when the president praised him as “the most significant warrior for peace I’ve ever met.”

The two have exchanged written messages since then, the official said.

During his interview with special counsel Robert Hur last year, Biden said he was still in touch with the pontiff during a discussion on some folders that included one labeled “Papal Visits.”

“I still communicate with the pope, you know what I mean. But is it constant? No. Anyway,” he said, according to the transcript released by the White House.

Later, during some crosstalk, Biden joked: “He’s my ticket.” As the group laughed, he replied: “That was a joke.”

In Puglia, the pope is expected to have one-on-one meetings with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, France’s Emmanuel Macron, India’s Narendra Modi, Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Canada’s Justin Trudeau, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Kenya’s William Ruto and Algeria’s Abdelmadjid Tebboune,