Former President Joe Biden was among many global luminaries in attendance at Pope Francis’ funeral Saturday at the Vatican, but no longer being the leader of the free world changes everything.
Biden was accompanied by his wife, former first lady Jill Biden, but they were not seated near President Donald Trump and other world leaders. The couple instead sat toward the back of the foreign dignitaries section because they are no longer heads of state.
« Biden is no longer part of the cool kids club, » one account commented on X, sharing an image of Biden near the back of the section at the funeral.
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« LMAO! They put Biden in the way back at the funeral of Pope Francis, » another person commented on X.
« Look at how lost he looks. »
« They put Biden in the back of the Pope’s funeral like a dog, » another X user wrote.
« Joe Biden was treated like a nursing home patient on the world stage President Trump is treated like a Rockstar on the world stage! » another person posted on X, showing the former president far away from Trump and other world leaders.
Biden was also seen being escorted to his seat by his wife and a priest, gripping onto both and moving cautiously.
Once in his seating area, Biden took selfies with Uganda Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa before the pope’s funeral began.
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Biden posed in several other photos with other mourners in attendance at the funeral, and he was smiling in each snapshot.
Biden, the second Catholic U.S. president, visited the Vatican in October 2021, when he and Pope Francis met to discuss topics like climate change and advocacy for the poor, according to a transcript fdrom the meeting.
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Biden had previously met Pope Francis on several other occasions, including during the pope’s visit to the U.S. in 2015.
Biden also met with Pope Francis in June at the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Apulia, Italy, where the two discussed the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, according to a readout of the meeting.
Biden, who awarded Pope Francis the Presidential Medal of Freedom in January, described him as a « consequential » leader Monday who was a « Pope for everyone. »
« He was unlike any who came before him, » Biden said in a post on X Monday morning. « Pope Francis will be remembered as one of the most consequential leaders of our time and I am better for having known him. For decades, he served the most vulnerable across Argentina and his mission of serving the poor never ceased. As Pope, he was a loving pastor and challenging teacher who reached out to different faiths. »
Francis, who had battled pneumonia for weeks before being released from the hospital, faced health complications for many years and had half a lung removed when he was young.
Francis, 88, died Monday morning, the day after Easter, at the Vatican.
Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, the head of the Vatican’s health department, said the pope died of a cerebral stroke that ultimately caused heart failure, which put him into a coma and led to irreversible heart failure, according to Vatican officials.
He was elected to the papacy on March 13, 2013, and was the first Jesuit to become pope.
The pope’s last public appearance was on Easter Sunday at St. Peter’s Square.
Biden’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy contributed to this report.
Source link : https://www.foxnews.com/world/biden-seated-towards-back-world-leaders-section-popes-funeral-no-longer-part-cool-kids-club
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Publish date : 2025-04-26 22:07:00
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