U.S. presidents have met with the pope since 1919. It all started with Woodrow Wilson

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Pope John XXIII with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who stands at left, during an audience granted in the pontiff’s private library in the Vatican Palace on Dec. 6, 1959. Eisenhower was the second U.S. president to meet the pope.





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Politics
Biden’s meeting with Pope Francis will be both official and deeply personal

With the Obama administration and now Biden’s, «I think they discovered in Pope Francis a very willing partner to address some of these massive global issues like climate change, like refugees,» Casey said. «When you see that political policy overlap, you see a deepening of the ties and deepening of the relationship between the two entities. And we are in one of those moments.»

But as other historical and theological experts shared with NPR, these meetings have not always had such a significance.


The first meeting didn’t happen until 1919


In January of 1919, Woodrow Wilson was on a months-long European trip in the wake of World War I.

«On January 4, Mr. Wilson called upon his Holiness Pope Benedict XV,» according to America magazine at the time. Benedict welcomed Wilson «most cordially. They spent about a half hour together. It is not, of course, officially known what subjects they discussed.»

Wilson’s meeting with the pope, which occurred during a time in which the U.S. harbored major anti-Catholic sentiment, is far different than what the White House’s relationship with the Vatican is now.

Such a meeting was seen in the U.S. as «politically fraught,» Casey said. «There was no political advantage for a president to meet with a pope at that point.»

Reportedly, Wilson wouldn’t step away from his face-to-face with the pope fully unscathed. An awkward moment arose when the pontiff offered a papal blessing to the White House’s entourage. Wilson declined, but offered up the Catholics among his staff to receive one.

It was after President Dwight D. Eisenhower met with Pope John XXIII at the Vatican that a president meeting with a pope became more normalized and a tradition.


Biden is just the second Catholic president


About one-in-five U.S. adults are Roman Catholic, according to Pew Research Center. Yet, prior to Biden, John F. Kennedy was the only Catholic president to serve.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry, who is now the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, was the only other Catholic to be listed as a presidential nominee of a major party ticket since Kennedy’s assassination in 1963.





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President John F. Kennedy and Pope Paul VI talk at the Vatican in this July 2, 1963 file photo. Kennedy’s meeting with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican was historic: the first Roman Catholic president of the United States was seeing the Roman Catholic pontiff only days after his coronation.





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World
In Pope Francis, Biden Has A Potential Ally — Who Shares The Same Catholic Detractors


The first papal visit to the White House was in 1979


Once meetings with the pope became more normalized, the pontiff eventually made his way to the U.S. — but it’s been a rare occurrence.

On Oct. 6, 1979, Pope John Paul II became the first pope to visit the White House. He arrived in style — in an open-topped limousine — and met with then-President Jimmy Carter.

«The people of our country have waited a long time for this meeting,» Carter said at the time.





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Pope John Paul II acknowledges applause from President Jimmy Carter and other dignitaries as the pontiff is welcomed to the White House on Oct. 6, 1979.





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In this June 7, 1982 file photo, President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan meet Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.





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Former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump meet Pope Francis on May 22, 2017 at the Vatican.





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Former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump meet Pope Francis on May 22, 2017 at the Vatican.


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Trump later responded, criticizing the pontiff’s comments and suggested Francis was a «pawn» for Mexico.

Once the two met in person, images of the pontiff frowning while standing next to Trump became a punchline.

Georgetown’s Casey, said Biden’s meeting with Pope Francis is important following the Trump presidency.

«Biden is actually repairing a fractured diplomatic relationship,» he said. This meeting and what’s said will be «a signal to the Vatican that you have a partner now in the White House.»

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