"The meeting was extremely warm and very wide ranging," Blinken told reporters after the 40 minute meeting.

"Speaking for myself and for the United States, I was very gratified by the meeting.

I was gratified by the strong leadership of his Holiness on the pandemic, on climate change, on the challenge that we have to address when it comes to irregular migration and refugees."

The audience with Blinken took place shortly after US bishops voted in favour of writing a document that might ban pro-choice politicians from receiving Communion. This is largely aimed at Biden, the first Catholic US president to be elected in more than 60 years.

Asked by reporters about tensions between the White House and the US episcopacy, Blinken avoided a direct answer.

"One of the luxuries of my job is that I don't do domestic politics," he said.

Francis himself hasn't weighed in publicly on the latest spat in the long-running wrangling over the Communion issue within the US Conference of Bishops.

A statement by Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni stressed the "cordial atmosphere" of the meeting. He reported that Francis took the opportunity to recall his apostolic visit to the United States in 2015.

The pope also "expressed his affection and attention to the people of the United States of America," Bruni said.

The pope and Blinken talked about human rights and religious freedom in China. These topics were also discussed in Blinken's separate discussions with the Holy See's No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, and with Archbishop Paul Gallagher, its foreign minister.

The Vatican and the People's Republic of China extended a provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops in October 2020. This sparked controversy due to fears that it might muzzle Pope Francis' ability to enforce his moral authority on Beijing.

Blinken and Francis discussed the possibility of working together "to address global challenges and the needs of the world's least fortunate and most vulnerable, including refugees and migrants," according to a statement by Ned Price, spokesperson for the US Department of State.

The two also addressed the need to "tackle the climate crisis". Francis and President Biden are preparing for the COP26 summit on the environment that will take place in Glasgow in November.

Sources

Religion News

AP News

Vatican-U.S. relations have grown increasingly strained in recent years, mainly as a result of the opposing views of Pope Francis and the Trump administration on a wide range of issues, from immigration to the environment.

Francis, who has sought to build bridges with other religions, cultures and the scientific community, has often presented an opposing force to Trump's wall-building politics.

The second Catholic president of the United States after John Kennedy will likely align with many of the priorities of this pontificate.

The transition plan proposed by his campaign, published on Nov. 9, focuses on addressing the global pandemic, economic recovery, racial equity and climate change.

In a speech on Oct. 27, Biden quoted from Fratelli tutti, asking the questions that Francis says leaders must ask themselves if they wish to engage in politics.

"Why am I doing this? What is my real aim?" Biden said, quoting the pontiff, before answering: "To unite this nation. To heal this nation."

Biden's recent promise to recommit to the Paris Agreement and "to go much further than that," will earn a hearty thumbs up from the Vatican.

The theme of unity is a welcome one for a pontificate that has been battling polarization just as extreme as the divide in U.S. presidential politics.

Biden's intention "of not dividing, but uniting a very polarized society" is a positive answer to "the pope's appeal to build bridges and not walls," said the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a key adviser to Pope Francis and director of the Jesuit publication Civiltà Cattolica, in a Nov. 8 interview with AdnKronos.

On foreign affairs, the Trump administration often found common ground.

The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See has collaborated effectively with the Vatican over the past four years, especially on freedom of religion and human trafficking, working in close partnership with Catholic religious orders and organizing events.

But the two states have clashed over China.

In late September, American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke at an event held at the embassy on the topic of advancing international religious freedom, apparently objecting to an experimental agreement the Church has been negotiating to share responsibility for selecting Chinese bishops with Beijing. Pompeo asked that Catholic leaders not renounce their "moral witness."

Pope Francis' number two, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, expressed "surprise" at what many in the Vatican saw as interference with its relations with China.

The Vatican has been working toward restoring diplomatic ties with the superpower in hopes of making life easier for its roughly 6 million Catholics.

The prospect of a Biden White House rekindles Vatican hopes for a renewed U.S. commitment to multilateralism, including more cooperative engagement with China.

The election of Kamala Harris as Biden's vice president will buttress the themes Francis has pushed over his seven years as pope.

"With Biden's vice president, Kamala Harris, a woman with Indian origins, we have a powerful immigrant representative who found in the American society an opportunity to realize a dream," Spadaro said.

"This is one of the radical elements of the American myth that will be recovered," he added.

Not everyone in Rome is celebrating the election. Biden and Harris' support for abortion and progressive family policies have already garnered pushback from Catholics, especially conservatives.

Cardinal Raymond Burke, a vocal papal opponent, said in late August that, due to his views on abortion, Biden "is not a Catholic in good standing and he should not approach to receive Holy Communion."

But even on this Biden and Francis may find ways to express solidarity.

While comparing abortion to "hiring a hitman," Francis has been dovish in condemning abortion legislation globally, preferring to address life issues in a broader framework that encompasses the multitude of human experiences, from poverty to artificial intelligence.

• Claire Giangravé - Vatican Correspondent RNS. First published in RNS. Republished with permission.