By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, (Reuters) – Pope Francis met with Nancy Pelosi the U.S. House Speaker. Nancy is a Catholic accused of supporting abortion rights and has been criticised by some Catholic bishops.

The meeting occurred several weeks ahead of Joe Biden, who is scheduled to meet with the pope. Meanwhile, the U.S. President is visiting Rome to discuss the future of the Group 20 countries.

Biden, second Catholic U.S. President, stated that he opposes abortion personally but cannot force his views on others as a politician. Pelosi is a mother to five children and has declared that she supports women’s rights.

Pelosi and the Biden administration have asked judges to stop a Texas law that bars abortions starting at six weeks. They claim it’s unconstitutional. A conservative-leaning appeals judge temporarily restored the ban on Friday.

Catholicism teaches that life starts at conception. Biden and Pelosi were criticized by U.S. conservative bishops and conservative Catholic media. Some of them believe neither of these should be permitted to receive communion.

When asked by reporters about U.S. Communion, the pope said that abortion was “murder” even though it is happening soon after conception. However, he appeared to be critical of U.S. Catholic bishops’ handling of the matter in a pastoral rather than a political manner.

“Communion is not a prize for the perfect … communion is a gift, the presence of Jesus and his Church,” the pope said.

A divided U.S. Roman Catholic Bishops conference voted in June to create a statement about communion. Some bishops believe it should be directed at Catholic politicians like Biden. Next month, they will revisit the matter.

Pelosi met with Pope Francis in Vatican City, although the Vatican did not provide any details.

Pelosi and former Pope Benedict met in 2009; the Vatican claimed that Benedict had said to her that he believed legislators should be involved in creating “a fair system of laws capable protecting human life at any stage of development.”

Salvatore Cordileone is the archbishop in Pelosi’s hometown of San Francisco.

Biden, a regular attendee of the Washington, D.C. church, was not stopped by Cardinal Wilton Gregory, Washington’s archbishop.

Biden will meet with the pope for the first time since his election, although they had met before when Biden was vice president to Barack Obama.

Pelosi, a member of the House of Representatives is visiting Rome ahead of the G20 to participate in a Summit of Parliamentary Speakers. Climate Change Summit (COP20) next month in Glasgow.

On Saturday, Francis spoke to the parliamentarians in a separate statement. He said that they were able to take a leading role in protecting the environment.

On Friday, the Vatican said that while the pope will not travel to Glasgow, its delegation would be led by Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Parolin is the secretary of state.