WORLD
Pope speaks by phone with Joe Biden
Baku, December 20, AZERTAC
Pope Francis and US President Joe Biden spoke with each other in a phone call overnight on 19 December, according to Vatican News.
The conversation took place as President Biden concludes his term in office and is the latest of the many times they have spoken or met in recent years.
The two leaders discussed "efforts to advance peace around the world during the holiday season," according to a White House statement. The memo said Biden "thanked the Pope for his continued advocacy to alleviate global suffering, including his work to advance human rights and protect religious freedoms."
The President "also graciously accepted His Holiness Pope Francis’s invitation to visit the Vatican next month." His announced visit to the Vatican will be his final one before leaving the White House on 20 January, when his successor Donald Trump will be sworn in as the new US president.
