Biden at Vatican to talk climate and poverty with Pope Francis

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Declaring it’s “good to be back,” President Joe Biden on Friday opened a five-day European trip at the Vatican, where he and Pope Francis — the world’s two most prominent Roman Catholics — planned to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and poverty.

A dozen Swiss Guards in their blue and gold striped uniforms and red-plumed halberds stood at attention in the San Damaso courtyard for the arrival of Biden and his wife, Jill. They were received by Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza, who runs the papal household, and then greeted one by one the papal ushers, or papal gentlemen, who lined up in the courtyard.