CHRISTIANSTED, VI — President Biden praised former Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday for his “generosity” and joined other American Catholics in mourning for the former pope.
Mr. Biden is the second Catholic president, joining John F. Kennedy, but has had a troubled relationship with the conservative wing of the church, largely because of the president’s support for abortion rights. He visited the Vatican in 2021 while attending a summit in Rome and had an extended audience with Pope Francis.
On Saturday, while vacationing in St. Croix, Mr. Biden had not made a public appearance, but issued a statement in honor of the former pope.
“Jill and I join Catholics around the world, and so many others, in mourning the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,” he said, adding: “He will be remembered as a distinguished theologian, with a lifelong commitment to the Church, guided by its principles and faith.”
Mr Biden recalled Benedict’s remarks during a visit to the United States and the White House in 2008, where the pope noted that “the need for global solidarity is as urgent as ever, if all people are to live in a way that worthy of dignity”.
“May his focus on the ministry of charity continue to be an inspiration to all of us,” Biden said.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California who is also Catholic, released a statement Saturday expressing her admiration for Benedict’s spirituality and recalling welcoming the pope to Washington in 2008 and visiting him at the Vatican the following year.
“Paul and I join our fellow Catholics in mourning the passing of Pope Benedict XVI: a world leader whose dedication, learning and message of hope touched the hearts of people of all faiths,” she wrote in the statement, referring to her husband. .
Some conservative American Catholic bishops and priests have called for Mr. Biden and Ms. Pelosi to be denied communion if they attend mass because of their stance on abortion and rights for LGBTQ people. But neither Benedict nor his successor, Pope Francis, have approved such a punitive measure.
Ms. Pelosi previously told The Times that she has a folder in her office with photos and news clips commemorating her meetings with popes, dating back to a visit to Rome with her family in the 1950s to see Pope Pius XII, a sign of her devotion to her faith and deference to the papacy. Her father, Thomas J. D’Alesandro Jr., a former mayor of Baltimore and a member of the House, was also prominent in the American Catholic community.
Ms. Pelosi, however, publicly disagrees with the church’s position on abortion, which, along with access to family planning and women’s rights, is a core value for her party.
“The church has her position, and we have ours, which is that a woman has a free will given to her by God. My family is very pro-life,” she told The Times in 2015.