Biden meets Pope Francis

Vice President Biden shook hands with newly elected Pope Francis on Tuesday morning during the pontiff's formal installation.

Biden led the U.S. delegation to the Vatican for the pope's inaugural mass that included House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R).

"We invited the American cardinals to a reception," Biden said to Nikolic, according to a White House pool report Monday. "So unless I'm prepared to join the Eastern Orthodox Church, as a Roman Catholic, I'd better show up or I'll lose my soul."

A group of House members led by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) also traveled to Rome for the occasion.

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Boehner: Pope Francis will bring ‘fresh eyes,’ reform to Vatican

By Molly K. Hooper - 03/17/13 11:50 AM ET

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), a practicing Catholic, praised the election of Pope Francis and said he was optimistic the new pope would bring reform to the Vatican.

“I do believe that Pope Francis is the right person to really bring reform to the church,” said Boehner on ABC’s “This Week.”

The Speaker said the Vatican is plagued by “a number of issues” that he believes “need fresh eyes.”

“He’s clearly made a commitment to clean up some of the problems that the church has had,” said Boehner of the new pope. “And it's pretty clear-- from his humble nature that-- that his papacy will be one that I think a lot of people will appreciate.”

The Vatican cardinals last week elected Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the new pope. He took the name of Francis, succeeding Pope Benedict XVI, who formally resigned in February. 

“This is the first time that we've had a pope from the Americas,” Boehner added.  “So, I think it's a giant step forward for the church. Latin America is a very, very Catholic continent.”

Boehner declined an invitation from the White House to join a delegation that will attend the papal installation mass, saying that he would need to stay in Washington to move the House budget and to meet the Irish prime minister, who is arriving this week.

Boehner, though, said he was “grateful for the invitation” from the White House. 

"Unfortunately, my duties in the House next week -- including hosting President Obama and the prime minister of Ireland at the Capitol on Tuesday, and the debate on the budget -- make that impossible," Boehner said last week.

Vice President Joe Biden is leading the delegation to Rome, and will be joined by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

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Vice President Biden to Lead Presidential Delegation to Attend the Mass for the Inauguration of the Pontificate of His Holiness Pope Francis

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

President Barack Obama today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to attend the Inauguration Mass celebrating the Pontificate of His Holiness Pope Francis, which will take place on March 19, 2013.

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden Jr., Vice President of the United States, will lead the delegation. 

Members of the Presidential Delegation:

The Honorable Susana Martinez, Governor of the State of New Mexico

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Leader of the United States House of Representatives and United States Representative from California

Dr. John J. DeGioia, President, Georgetown University

President Obama discusses the need to harness American energy in order to reduce our dependence on oil and make the United States a magnet for new jobs. He highlights his all-of-the-above approach to American energy -- including a proposal to establish an Energy Security Trust, which invests in research that will help shift our cars and trucks off of oil.

In the first foreign trip of his second term in office, President Obama will meet with the new Israeli government and speak to the Israeli people, as well as meet with the Palestinian leadership and the King of Jordan.

Here’s a quick glimpse at what happened this week on WhiteHouse.gov.

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Statement from the Vice President on His Holiness Pope Francis

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For Immediate Release March 13, 2013 Statement from the Vice President on His Holiness Pope Francis

Jill and I want to offer our congratulations to His Holiness Pope Francis, and extend our prayers as he takes on this holy responsibility. I am happy to have the chance to personally relay my well wishes, and those of the American people, when I travel to Rome for his Inaugural Mass. The Catholic Church plays an essential role in my life and the lives of more than a billion people in America and around the world, not just in matters of our faith, but in pursuit of peace and human dignity for all faiths. I look forward to our work together in the coming years on many important issues.

Blog posts on this issue March 14, 2013 6:45 PM EDTNominate a Hero for the 2013 Citizens Medal

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How Pope Francis Can Impact Economic Policy And Help The Poor

Argentina’s Jose Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, became the new head of the Catholic Church yesterday, assuming the papacy that was vacated by Pope Benedict XVI at the end of February. As a cardinal in Argentina, Bergoglio eschewed excess, living in poverty and often visiting the nation’s slums and other impoverished areas. Francis took his name from St. Francis of Assisi, the most famous Catholic advocate for the poor, and as pope, he will have the chance to continue the Church’s legacy of fighting growing rates of income inequality and defending the poor.

Though Bergoglio took strides to distance himself from liberation theology, which advocates for the reform of capitalist economics in a way that benefits the disadvantaged, while serving in Argentina, he has in the past railed against economic inequality and the lack of focus given to the poor by the world’s economic elites. He has called “extreme poverty and and unjust economic structures that create great inequities” a violation of basic human rights, and he has chastised the wealthy for not “taking into account the poor.” In 2007, he went even farther, decrying the economic inequality that exists around the world:

“We live, apparently, in the most unequal part of the world, which has grown the most yet reduced misery the least. The unjust distribution of goods persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to Heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers.”

Recent popes have made similar declarations. In 2011, with streets around the world filled with protests of economic inequality and austerity that was inflicting even more pain on the poor, Benedict called for more economic equality and sweeping reforms of the global financial system in a way that would lead to the “achievement of a universal common good.” Benedict also called for greater wealth distribution to eliminate world hunger and for the greater protection of labor unions to help workers around the world.

Catholic social teaching, in fact, is rich with doctrine about the importance of defending and helping the poor. Still, the Catholic Church has been criticized for not taking sufficient action on those issues. Benedict, after all, formally censured the largest group of American nuns, who focus primarily on advocating for the poor through health care reform and poverty programs, because he said they were not focusing enough on social issues like abortion and gay marriage.

Francis has a chance to change that, whether by re-upping his anti-austerity messages in Europe, where spending cuts have driven up unemployment and decimated poverty programs, by leading opposition to increased income inequality in the United States, where cuts to poverty programs have helped exacerbate the effects of the recession, or by pushing for reforms to economic and health programs to benefit the poorest citizens of Central and South America, Africa, and Asia.

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Pope Francis elected by Vatican cardinals

Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was selected as the new pope on Wednesday, taking the name of Francis.

Pope Francis succeeds Pope Benedict XVI, who formally resigned on Feb. 28.

Vice President Joe Biden will lead the U.S. delegation to Francis's installation mass, the White House confirmed Wednesday afternoon.

President Obama was notified that the Vatican selected a new pope while he was in a closed-door session with House Republicans.

Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors passed Obama the note during the meeting, according to a senior aide in the room. The aide said that Obama announced the news to the rest of the lawmakers in the room who cheered in response.

"On behalf of the American people, Michelle and I offer our warm wishes to His Holiness Pope Francis as he ascends to the Chair of Saint Peter and begins his papacy," Obama said later in a statement. " As a champion of the poor and the most vulnerable among us, he carries forth the message of love and compassion that has inspired the world for more than two thousand years—that in each other we see the face of God."

Obama also noted that Francis is the first pope from South America.

"As the first pope from the Americas, his selection also speaks to the strength and vitality of a region that is increasingly shaping our world, and alongside millions of Hispanic Americans, those of us in the United States share the joy of this historic day," Obama continued in the statement. 

"Just as I appreciated our work with Pope Benedict XVI, I look forward to working with His Holiness to advance peace, security and dignity for our fellow human beings, regardless of their faith. We join with people around the world in offering our prayers for the Holy Father as he begins the sacred work of leading the Catholic Church in our modern world."

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) wished the new pope congratulations.

"I'm happy that they were able to come to a choice as quickly as they did," Boehner said according to Buzzfeed. "I think that reaching out to beyond the traditional continent of our Church is another big step in the right direction for the Church."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made a similar statement.

"Catholics across Kentucky and the entire U.S. celebrate the election of Pope Francis I, and I join Americans of all faiths to congratulate him on becoming the spiritual leader of the world’s more than one billion Catholics," McConnell said.

Ahead of the selection, there was much speculation that an American might be chosen as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

In an interview with ABC News released earlier Wednesday, Obama dismissed the idea that a potential American pope would be closer to the White House.

"I don't know if you've checked lately, but the Conference of Catholic bishops here in the U.S. don't seem to be taking orders from me," Obama said.

Catholic bishops in the U.S. have been strong critics of the administration's birth control coverage mandate, which many critics charge infringes on religious liberty.

The American cardinals that were said to be in the running for the papacy included Timothy Dolan of New York, Sean O'Malley of Boston, and Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C.

"It seems to me that an American pope would preside just as effectively as a Polish pope or an Italian pope or a Guatemalan pope," Obama added during the ABC interview.

Benedict stepped down last month, the first pope to willingly resign in more than 600 years, citing health concerns and his age.

Benedict had visited the United States in 2008, meeting with then President George W. Bush at the White House and visiting Ground Zero in New York City. Obama met Pope Benedict at the Vatican in 2009.

Eight years ago, President Bush sent his brother Jeb - then the governor of Florida - to lead the U.S. delegation to Benedict's inauguration, sparking rumors about the younger Bush brother's presidential ambitions. A congressional delegation of 21 House members - the largest ever - also attended, headed by Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.).

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush led the delegation to John Paul II's funeral in 2005.

--Julian Pecquet contributed.

--This story was first published at 3:22 p.m. and last updated at 5:21 p.m.

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