ROMA – Together with the first lady Jill around 6 pm, for the pre-holiday mass, thus deserting the tour to the Baths of Diocletian together with the other world leaders. The two sit a little apart, in the last row, where it says “reserved”. There are thirty faithful in all to attend the service, parishioners who usually attend the Saturday evening mass.
Father Joe Ciccone, an American religious of the Congregation of São Paulo, was informed of Biden’s arrival only two hours earlier. At the altar he speaks in a calm tone. He gives a homily on the Gospel of Luke: “When you are invited, go and put yourself in the last place … because whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted”, he says almost referring to the president. At the moment of communion, one of the two illustrious guests gets up alone Joe Biden, from the last row he goes up to the altar. He is the father rector Steven Petroff to give him the Eucharist.
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Although in these hours the most conservative American Catholic bishops have used social media to express their disapproval of the meeting the day before yesterday between Biden and Francis and the latter’s consent to communion in Biden, Father Petroff is sure to what he does: “The Pope – he explains – says that communion is a medicine for those who need it, for everyone, for each one of us. So I had no difficulty in following the direction and example that Pope Francis gives us. If one has the right intention and spirit, the Eucharist cannot be prevented from anyone “. This is why it was “natural for me to give him the host”.
Outside the church, the armored vehicles following Biden wait, blocking traffic. Nobody can get close to the place of worship that was also chosen by Nancy Pelosi a few months ago while passing through Rome. In neo-Romanesque style, built a hundred years ago as the almost twin and its style closely resembles the churches of Brooklyn, it has been used several times to set the New York scenes of numerous films. The building belongs to the college of Irish Augustinians who still officiate today, and since 2017 it has been the official parish of Americans residing in the capital.
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