About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2020)
POLITICS The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Friday, November 13, 2020 7A Vatican calling: Pope congratulates Biden on election CAROLYN RASTER I Associated Press Pope Francis addresses a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015 in Washington. President-elect Joe Biden, a lifelong Roman Catholic, spoke to Pope Francis on Thursday, Nov. 12. BY WILL WEISSERT AND DAVID CRARY Associated Press It’s not exactly divine intervention, but even the pope considers the U.S. pres idential race over. President-elect Joe Biden, a lifelong Roman Catholic, spoke to Pope Francis on Thursday, despite President Donald Trump refusing to concede. Trump claims — without evidence — that the election was stolen from him through massive but unspec ified acts of fraud. Biden’s transition team said in a statement that the president-elect thanked Francis for “extending blessings and congratula tions and noted his appre ciation.” He also saluted the pontiffs “leadership in promoting peace, recon ciliation, and the common bonds of humanity around the world.” Biden said he hopes to work with Francis on issues such as climate change, pov erty and immigration. News of the call came even as some Catholic bish ops in the U.S. decline to acknowledge Biden’s victory and argue the faithful should not back him because of his support for abortion rights. On Tuesday, for example, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, tweeted that Biden and Vice Presi dent-elect Kamala Harris support “the slaughter of innocents” at any point dur ing pregnancy. Biden has said he accepts church doctrine about abor tion on a personal level, but does not want to impose that belief on everyone. Biden has had several phone calls this week with foreign leaders, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. They have congrat ulated him on winning and consider the election settled. Having the pope on board, too, likely has special signifi cance for Biden. He is just the second Catholic to be elected presi dent in U.S. history, and the first since John F. Kennedy. Biden speaks frequently and openly about the importance of faith in his life and attends Mass near his home in Wilm ington, Delaware, nearly every week. No matter their faith, American politicians are often eager to meet with the pope when traveling near Rome, though Fran cis declined to meet with Trump’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, in Septem ber, citing rules against such sit-downs during election periods. Francis last visited the U.S. in 2015. Known for advocating for openness on issues like gay rights, the environment and religious tolerance, Francis has been embraced by some liberals as furthering their causes. In its statement, the Biden transition team said the president-elect told the pontiff he would like to work together to further “a shared belief in the dignity and equality of all human kind on issues such as car ing for the marginalized and the poor, addressing the crisis of climate change, and welcoming and integrating immigrants.” In the election, 50% of Catholic voters backed Trump and 49% favored Biden, according to Vote- Cast, a survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide conducted for The Associ ated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago. a Apartments FOR RENT RPC Partners 2 Bedrm. 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