Biden meets with Pope and Macron ahead of G20 summit

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is expected to join protesters who have gathered in London and across the world on Friday, demanding that big finance defunds fossil fuel investments.

Pressure groups are demonstrating at over 50 locations across Europe, North America, Africa and Australia ahead of COP26, which begins in Glasgow this weekend.

The demonstrations aim to highlight the role that big finance is playing in exacerbating the climate crisis.

Organizers argue that banks have poured $3.8 trillion into fossil fuel extraction since the 2015 Paris agreement, despite net zero targets.

Giant murals will be painted in global financial centers using ash from houses that have been destroyed in wildfires, they said.

Joseph Sikulu, from the Pacific Climate Warriors group, a youth-led grassroots network working with communities to fight climate change from the Pacific Islands, said that “financial institutions that continue to invest in dirty fossil fuel projects are also investing in the destruction of our islands and our homes.”

“It’s time for the corporations who have caused this crisis to be held accountable,” he said, adding:

In the City of London, activists will take part in climate memorials outside major banks and insurers with a candle-lit vigil taking place at the Bank of England in the City o at 5:30 p.m. ET local time (12:30 p.m ET)

Activist Mitzi Jonelle Tan, who traveled thousands of miles to demonstrate in London on Friday, said that the issue is personal.

Tan added that climate change has already taken the lives of millions of people around the world and that extreme weather has been linked to nearly 10% of global deaths – resulting in around five million annual deaths.

“The global day of action will be a moment to honor their memories and ensure that they did not die in vain,” Tan said.

President Joe Biden and Pope Francis meet at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City on October 29.

Pope Francis departed after his private audience with President Biden and the expanded meeting with the US delegation at the Vatican.

His meeting with Biden lasted 90 minutes, after which he and 10 Papal Gentlemen met with a larger US delegation, including the President, first lady Jill Biden, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and others, according to the White House.

Pope Francis leaves in a car following a private audience with President Joe Biden at the Vatican on October 29.

President Biden and Pope Francis’s meeting ended at 1:30 p.m. local time (7:30 a.m. ET). The meeting lasted 90 minutes, the White House said.

An expanded meeting with a US delegation is now taking place at the Vatican.

The Pope and “10 Papal Gentlemen” are now meeting with the President, first lady Jill Biden, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, assistant to the President and deputy chief of staff Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, assistant to the President and senior adviser to the President Mike Donilon and several others, according to the White House.

One notable attendee is Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who is Biden’s physician. The presidential physician typically travels with the President overseas but don’t normally attend meetings.

When former President Trump met with Pope Francis in 2017, then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who is Catholic, was noticeably absent from the meeting. CNN reported at the time that Spicer assumed he would be on the list but found out last minute he would be excluded, and the presidential snub raised questions about Spicer’s standing as the President’s chief spokesperson.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki is not traveling with the President for at least the first few days of the trip because of a family emergency, the White House said Thursday.

Here is the full list from the White House of who is attending the expanded meeting at the Vatican:

The US officials include:

Holy See delegation includes:

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in exchanges gifts with Pope Francis as they meet at the Vatican on October 29.

Pope Francis isn’t traveling to the UK for the climate summit, but he’s meeting influential leaders who are.

Before the Pope met with Biden, he held a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday morning.

Moon is also in Rome to attend the G20 summit over the weekend before COP26.

Moon and first lady Kim Jung-sook were expected to discuss a wide range of issues in their meeting with the Pope, the Yonhap News Agency reported, including peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula, how to end the Covid-19 pandemic, poverty and climate change. 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is also in Rome for the G20 meet, is also scheduled to visit Vatican City and talk with Pope Francis this weekend ahead of the climate summit. This will be Modi’s first meeting with the Pope since taking office in 2014.

“I will also highlight the need to comprehensively address climate change issues including equitable distribution of carbon space, support for mitigation and adaptation and resilience building measures, mobilization of finance, technology transfer and importance of sustainable lifestyles for green and inclusive growth,” a statement from Modi’s Prime Minister’s Office read.

But India’s stance on climate action has come under fire this week as the nation’s environment secretary rejected a net zero emissions target, calling the country a “victim” of global warming and “not a contributor.”

On Wednesday, India rejected calls to announce a net zero carbon emissions target, saying historical blame for the climate crisis lay with developed nations.

India is the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States and is under pressure to announce plans to become carbon neutral by mid-century or thereabouts at COP26.

First lady Jill Biden reaches out to touch the hand of President Joe Biden as they arrive for a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican on October 29.

President Biden’s meeting with Pope Francis is extremely personal to him.

“He’s one of our most religious presidents openly that we have had in some time,” CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins says. “Every Saturday, nearly, he is going to mass at 5:30 p.m. in Georgetown. He talks about his religion in his presidential speeches a lot.”

Biden has also quoted the Pope in his messages throughout the world several times, Collins added.

“This is a President who brought his rosary beads into the situation room during the bin Laden raid when President Obama was in office. It’s a deep aspect of his presidency. I don’t think it’s surprising that he is starting his second major trip overseas with this visit,” she said.

There is a stark contrast between the Pope’s relationship with former President Trump and President Biden.

“Often, you saw Pope Francis try to serve as a moral counterpart when Trump was in office, talking about building walls and a lot of policies he had; such a different message that the Pope took throughout the world,” Collins remarks.

On the other hand, Biden and the Pope’s stances are interweaved on certain global issues, she added, such as on the topic of nationalism.

“It shows how symbolic this relationship is but also how often they agree on some of these policy matters as well.”

This meeting will obviously also be a personal discussion between the two behind closed doors as well, she said.

The president’s vehicle pulled to a stop in an interior courtyard of the Vatican at noon local time, and Biden and wife Jill stepped from their limo, which was bearing the flag of the Holy See.

They were greeted by Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza, head of Papal Household, and other Vatican officials.

As he went down a receiving line shaking hands, Biden repeatedly said it was “good to be back.” He last visited the Vatican in 2016 for a medical conference.

At one point, he introduced himself saying “I’m Jill’s husband.” And he could be overheard saying “I would have been elected much earlier,” though it wasn’t clear to what he was referring.

This is the standard Vatican protocol, before heading into the Apostolic Palace.

Pope Francis does not live in the Apostolic Palace, but he greets heads of states there because that’s where the papal library is. That area is right on the square.

“When you see the Pope come for the Angelus on a Sunday to his window, those are the papal apartments. That’s where President Biden will be going now,” CNN reporter Delia Gallagher says.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are greeted by the Head of the Papal Household, Mons. Leonardo Sapienza, center, as they arrive for a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican on October 29.

The public’s view of Friday’s highly-anticipated meeting with President Biden and Pope Francis at the Vatican will be more limited than previously anticipated.

The visit has been clouded by severe restrictions on press coverage – independent journalists will not be allowed to see the two men meeting at all, and no live pictures of the Pope greeting Biden will be transmitted.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni gave no explanation for the last-minute change.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Vatican has not admitted journalists to be present for the beginning of the Pope’s meetings with heads of state, a practice which has been common for years at the Vatican. Despite a formal letter of complaint from the Vatican press corps, the Vatican has yet to reinstate journalist pools at papal meetings. 

The Vatican has also canceled the planned live broadcast of the Pope’s meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, due to take place just before the meeting with President Biden.

White House Correspondents Association President Steven Portnoy said in a statement that the association “joins Vatican reporters in expressing our disappointment that the world won’t see live pictures of President Biden’s meeting with Pope Francis.”

“The White House told us the bilateral meeting would involve Biden and Francis discussing substantive matters of global significance ‘including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling the climate crisis, and caring for the poor.’ Such an international news event demands independent coverage,” Portnoy said.

The Pope's gentlemen greet President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden as they arrive at San Damaso courtyard in the Vatican on October 29.

President Biden has arrived at the Vatican for a highly symbolic meeting with Pope Francis. 

His motorcade arrived at St. Peter’s Square just before noon local time (6 a.m. ET). 

Biden is the second Catholic US president, and his talks with Francis come with deep personal and political stakes.

The visit has been clouded by severe restrictions on press coverage. Independent journalists will not be allowed to see the two men meeting at all, and no live pictures of the Pope greeting Biden will be transmitted. 

President Biden is scheduled to meet the Pope in a matter of minutes. The highly-anticipated meeting at the Vatican will be limited to public view.

The Vatican said Thursday it had canceled a planned live broadcast of the meeting but will still distribute video of some parts of the arrival and greeting with the Pope following the meeting.

Stay with us for updates on their meeting.

A health worker prepares doses of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine onboard a pop-up vaccination bus in Cape Town, South Africa, on August 26.

World leaders attending the G20 summit in Rome must address vaccine inequality, a group of former presidents, prime ministers and global figures said on Friday.  

The group has urged Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi – who is hosting this weekend’s summit – to address the “catastrophic market and moral failure” of unfair coronavirus vaccine distribution. 

The letter, written by former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and signed by 100 others highlighted gross disparities in vaccine equity, saying that only 5% of Africa is fully vaccinated.

Signatories to the letter included former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Nobel prize winners and former leaders of Pakistan, Canada and the Netherlands.

The letter said that the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada will stock a surplus of 240 million unused doses by the end of October. With military assistance, “these could be airlifted immediately to countries most in need.” 

Signatories also called on the World Bank to make additional finance available to support vaccine rollouts in low-income countries.  

“Vaccine inequity constitutes a threat to us all,” they said. “Just as one cannot put out half a fire and be safe from the fire, so are we all not safe until everyone is safe.” 

The Swiss Guards prepare for the arrival of President Joe Biden for a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican on October 29.

Today’s meeting will be the fourth between Biden and the Pope meet, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday, noting the two have also exchanged letters.

“They will have a chance just to reflect, each of them, on their view of what’s happening in the world, policy issues,” Sullivan said at a White House press briefing.

Biden and the Pope are expected to discuss climate change, migration and income inequality, among other issues, according to Sullivan.

The last time President Joe Biden visited the Vatican, he was still reeling from the loss of his son Beau to cancer a year earlier.

The reason for his 2016 visit was the Third International Regenerative Medicine Conference, and – in a speech delivered with a massive bronze sculpture of the Resurrection as his backdrop – Biden made an impassioned call for developing new cures for the disease that took his son’s life.

But he also recalled a moment of kindness from his host, Pope Francis, who visited the United States in the months following Beau’s death and gathered with Biden’s extended family as he departed the states from the Philadelphia International Airport.

“We had just lost my son,” Biden said at the start of his speech. “And he met with my extended family in the hangar behind where the aircraft was. And I wish every grieving parent, brother, sister, mother, father, would have the benefit of his words, his prayers, his presence. He provided us with more comfort that even he, I think, will understand.”

Biden returns to the Vatican on Friday to meet a Pope who has provided both familial comfort and ideological inspiration to a President whose faith has long underpinned his public and private lives.

The visit is expected to touch on their personal relationship as Catholics and other key world issues, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday. And their issues-related discussion is expected to address climate, migration and income inequality – major areas of consensus among both men.

Read more about Biden’s relationship with the Pope here.

The Vatican said Thursday it has canceled a planned live broadcast of President Biden meeting Pope Francis, due to take place Friday morning. 

Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni gave no explanation for the last-minute change but told CNN that President Biden’s arrival in the Vatican courtyard, where he will be greeted by a Vatican monsignor, will be broadcast. The Vatican will distribute video of some parts of the arrival and greeting with the Pope following the meeting, according to Bruni.

The Vatican’s television coverage would normally also include the President and his entourage walking through the corridors of the Vatican, the President shaking hands with the Pope and sitting down at his desk for the beginning of the meeting. Coverage is usually provided at the end of the meeting for an exchange of gifts between the Pope and the President.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Vatican has not admitted journalists to be present for the beginning of the Pope’s meetings with heads of state, a practice which has been common for years at the Vatican. Despite a formal letter of complaint from the Vatican press corps, the Vatican has yet to reinstate journalist pools at papal meetings.  

The Vatican has also cancelled the planned live broadcast of the Pope’s meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, due to take place just before the meeting with President Biden.

Pope Francis holds an episcopal ordination mass on October 17 at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Pope Francis has called on world leaders to seize the opportunity to more effectively tackle the global climate crisis at COP, urging them to give “concrete hope” to future generations that the threat is being taken seriously.

Speaking in a message broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s “Thought for the Day” segment Friday, the leader of the Catholic Church said everyone must play “our own part in changing the collective response to the unprecedented threat of climate change.”

The Pope said that climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic have “exposed our deep vulnerability and raised numerous doubts and concerns about our economic systems and the way we organize our societies.”

“These crises present us with the need to take radical decisions that are not always easy,” he said, adding that difficult moments like these “present opportunities that we must not waste.”

While underlining a sense of urgency that global leaders must take, the Pope also struck a hopeful note, saying that “humanity has never before had at its disposal so many means” for achieving these goals.

Pope Francis will not be attending COP26 summit in Glasgow this weekend.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CNN’s Jeremy Diamond that there is still no date set for a virtual face-to-face meeting between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping and wouldn’t comment on whether the White House believed it was a mistake for Xi not to attend the G20 Summit this week in Rome.

Asked by CNN if it was a mistake for Xi not to attend, Sullivan said he wouldn’t characterize Xi’s decision making.

Sullivan added that “in an era of intense competition between the US and China, intense diplomacy, leader level diplomacy is vital to effectively managing this relationship.”

National security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a briefing at the White House on October 26.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan singled out Russia and China Tuesday ahead of the G20 summit, noting that neither country’s leader will attend the summit in person as he touted unity between the US and Europe. 

He continued, “The US and Europe will be there. They’ll be there energized and united at both the G20 and COP26, driving the agenda, shaping the agenda as it relates to these significant international issues.” 

In an allusion to a diplomatic spat with France regarding nuclear submarines last month, which he referred to as “a lot of commentary in recent weeks about the state of the transatlantic relationship,” Sullivan said the US and Europe were coming to this week’s summit “aligned and united on the major elements of the global agenda,” citing cooperation on Covid-19, climate initiatives, and trade and technology.

Biden, Sullivan said, will be meeting with “key European partners” at both summits to “coordinate policies on Iran, on supply chains, on global infrastructure efforts, and so much else.”

The President will use both summits to advance his priorities.

“You’re going to see firsthand in living color what foreign policy for the middle class is all about,” he said, citing the global minimum tax, a focus on supply chains and energy prices, and his “Build Back Better World” climate initiative.

Pope Francis arrives to hold a general audience at the Vatican on October 27.

President Biden’s audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican will touch on their personal relationship as Catholics and other key world issues, national security adviser Jake Sullivan previewed Tuesday.

He added, “Of course, in the international realm, they’ll be talking about climate and migration and income inequality and other issues that are very top of mind for both of them.”

Sullivan declined to field a question on a pending court case regarding abortion and restrictive state laws on the matter.

The White House laid out President Biden’s foreign schedule in Europe ahead of his departure on Thursday.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at Rome-Fiumicino International Airport on October 29.

President Joe Biden is in Europe for his sophomore trip abroad, but it’s a markedly different trip than his first.

In June, Biden was riding high on his election victory, where he sought to assure the world that “America is back.” But now he’s arrived in Europe with that initial glow having worn off and as a massive domestic agenda – and his entire presidency – hangs in the balance.

Biden’s first stop is Rome, where he’s meeting leaders of the world’s richest nations at the annual G20 summit. There, he’ll attempt to unify US partners against the world’s most pressing challenges. But he’s struggled to effectively referee back at home, having left Washington on Thursday after House Democrats again delayed a major vote on a sweeping infrastructure and spending bill amid party divisions.

Since the last time he went abroad, Biden’s political fortunes have suffered as Americans grow weary of the coronavirus pandemic and economic side-effects begin having an effect on everyday life. The President’s approval ratings have fallen below 50% for the first time.

Officials said the principal objective of the G20 was to cement support for a global minimum tax, another key element of Biden’s domestic economic agenda. Biden also plans to focus intently on supply chain issues and energy prices with leaders at the G20.

The stalled infrastructure and spending vote however, remains a significant setback for Biden’s trip, as he had hoped the package, filled with social programs and climate protections investments, would have passed before arriving at the UN Climate Conference in the UK. The framework includes $555 billion in measures to combat climate change.

Biden was hoping to use that package as leverage to push other nations to make significant cuts to carbon emissions at the climate summit.

But now, it looks like he’ll be showing up to COP26 in Glasgow next week empty handed.

Still, the White House believes that Biden’s foreign counterparts are astute enough to recognize that the president is trying to secure new climate action, even if he doesn’t do so by the time he arrives in Scotland.