The unusual clampdown surrounding what is expected to be a roughly hour-long conversation is all the more curious as this pope and president are perhaps more aligned on world affairs than any combination since Reagan met the equally anti-communist, socially conservative John Paul II.
Pope Francis welcomed US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the Vatican on Saturday, as she arrived in Rome for a gathering of legislative leaders of G20 countries ahead of the UN Climate Change Summit in Scotland later this month.
Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury and other religious leaders came together at the Vatican on Monday for a climate-focused meeting ahead of the UN's COP26 summit in Glasgow next month.
More than 18,000 people have signed a petition urging Pope Francis to withdraw his apostolic letter imposing restrictions on the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass, warning that it will cause "further division and hurt among the faithful," achieving the opposite effect of its stated purpose.