Looking ahead to a reception scheduled for Monday evening in Rome that will feature American Cardinals, Vice President Joe Biden quipped that his attendance at the event is mandatory if he wishes to retain his soul.
According to the vice president’s office, Biden will attend the reception at Villa Aurelia in Rome along with the Presidential Delegation to the Inaugural Mass of Pope Francis, U.S. Cardinals, U.S. Members of Congress, and officials from U.S Embassy Rome, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations Agencies in Rome.
Speaking with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic on Monday at Villa Aurelia, Biden joked that his own allegiance to Catholicism mandated that he attend the reception.
“We invited the American cardinals to a reception,” Biden said, according to a vice presidential pool report. “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.”
