Vatican teams up with United States to fight cancer

Cancer 'is not a national problem, it's an international problem, it's a human problem.'

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden paid Pope Francis a little visit on Friday to talk cancer and Christian persecution.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) -  Biden traveled to the Vatican to attend a summit on regenerative medicine. While at the Vatican, Biden pushed for a global effort to cure cancer and discussed Christian persecution in the Middle East.

On their journey to discovering a cure for cancer, researchers have been steadily making progress by experimenting with adult stem cells.

In response to the obvious affiliation between stem cells and babies, Dr. Robin Smith, the president of the Stem for Life Foundation, spoke at the three-day conference and explained adult stem cells allowed "everyone to understand that no one has to choose between science and faith."

During a Friday speech at the conference, Biden explained his reasons for supporting adult stem cell research in an effort to find a cure for cancer: "The truth is that today, more than at any point in human history, we have a genuine opportunity to help more people all across the world than ever before."

Biden is a huge advocate for finding a cure for cancer - particularly since he lost his firstborn son, Beau, last year from brain cancer.

Pope Francis comforted Biden last summer when Beau succumbed to the disease, and again Biden thanked the pontiff during his speech.

"I wish every grieving parent, brother, sister, mother, father, would have the benefit of his words, his prayers, his presence," Biden stated. "He provided us with more comfort than even he, I think, will understand."

His stop at the Vatican was part of Biden's "moonshot" campaign to cure cancer. "Our goal in the U.S. is to do in the next five years what would otherwise take a decade, but that's the work of all of us," Biden said before he called for "an international commitment" to stop cancer in its tracks.

Biden added Cancer "is not a national problem, it's an international problem, it's a human problem."

Following his statements on cancer, Biden went on to speak of Christian persecution, as well as the persecution of other religious minorities in the Middle East.

After his 25-minute speech, Biden had a private meeting with Pope Francis then met with the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

He then traveled to Palazzo Chigi at met with Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Neither the Vatican nor the White House has released information concerning Biden's private meeting with Pope Francis.

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