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Please enter a valid email address. Having trouble? Click here. Former President Joe Biden praised the late Pope Francis in a new op-ed, drawing a contrast between him and politicians who “practiced the politics of dehumanization” in what some outlets interpreted as a swipe at President Donald Trump.After making his final public appearance on Easter Sunday, Pope Francis died last week at the age of 88. His funeral in Vatican City was held on Saturday, drawing mourning dignitaries from around the world, including Trump and Biden.Biden, who departed from the White House in January, praised the pope for his life’s work in a USA Today op-ed headlined, “Pope Francis stood for compassion as others embraced cruelty. May mercy be his legacy.” Former President Joe Biden was one of hundreds of thousands of people who mourned and celebrated the late Pope’s life in Rome at his funeral. (Biden photo from Scott Olson/Getty Images | Pope Francis mourner photo from Gustavo Garello/AP)PRIEST SAYS US CATHOLIC COMMUNITY ‘BUSY, IN A GOOD WAY’ AS STATS SHOW MASSIVE WAVE OF YOUNG ADULTS CONVERTINGThe former president noted that as he sat among the more than 200,000 people in Rome mourning and celebrating the life of Pope Francis, “one word kept running through my mind − mercy.” Biden, only the second Catholic president, was criticized for espousing views in direct contrast with Church teachings such as supporting abortion rights.”Francis was a pope for our time, when so many leaders embraced cruelty,” Biden wrote. “He stood for compassion. When so many casually embraced lies. He stood for truth. When so many saw the climate as an imagined problem. He saw it as an existential crisis. When so many treated the climate as a political matter. He knew it was a moral imperative.”The former president added, “And when so many practiced the politics of dehumanization, he stood for our common humanity.”Biden praised the late pope extensively for his final Easter message the day before he died, for how he, “called out the cruelty being inflicted on others” and “spoke against the demonization of the weakest among us.””How much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized, and migrants!” the late Pope had said in one quote shared by Biden.CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE Pope Francis meets then-President Joe Biden and and then-First Lady Jill Biden at the Apostolic Palace on October 29, 2021 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPBiden reflected on one particular quote from the faith leader, worrying his departure will leave a colder world behind.”Francis used to say that ‘a little mercy makes the world less cold and more just.’ Now I fear with his passing, the world will be colder and less just. Which means that all of us who loved Francis need to step up,” Biden wrote.
Joe Biden praises late Pope Francis in op-ed, saying he was a ‘deeply good man’
