Biden embraces surprised-looking Pope Francis with forehead-to-forehead hug at G7 summit
Heads up, Your Holiness!
President Biden embraced a surprised-looking Pope Francis with an intimate forehead-to-forehead hug on Friday during the second day of the G7 summit in Italy.
The 87-year-old pontiff had been wheeled into a room of world leaders to take part in a discussion of issues surrounding artificial intelligence, energy and the Africa-Mediterranean region. He is the first pope ever to attend a G7 gathering.
Other leaders joining the discussion included Argentina President Javier Milei, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The 81-year-old Biden, America’s second Roman Catholic president, met privately with Francis later Friday.
Members of the traveling press pool, including videographers, were barred from that meeting — with the exception of a sole press photographer allowed to snap a shot of the interaction.
“It went well,” BIden said afterward, giving a thumbs up to the press after excluding them from the room.
A senior administration official told reporters ahead of that meeting that the president and pope were likely to discuss the situation in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war, and AI and climate change.
The precise details were not immediately clear, however, even to White House aides.
“I missed the meeting,” a senior official told reporters seeking an update afterward on a White House press call — before gushing: “I can tell you they had a very warm embrace when the Pope arrived to the AI session.”
A White House press office readout later said the men discussed the “need for an immediate cease-fire and a hostage deal to get the hostages home and address the critical humanitarian crisis in Gaza” and that Biden “thanked Pope Francis for the Vatican’s work to address the humanitarian impacts of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, including his efforts to help return kidnapped Ukrainian children to their families.”
Biden also “reaffirmed his deep appreciation for the Pope’s tireless advocacy for the poor and those suffering from persecution, the effects of climate change, and conflict around the world,” the White House said.
The papal sitdown was Biden’s last major event before he departed the summit for the US to attend a Hollywood fundraiser hosted by actor George Clooney.
