WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has attended Mass for the first time since taking office, worshiping Sunday at the church he attended when he was vice president.
Biden, the nation’s second Catholic president, chose the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, a few miles from the White House. It is where the nation’s only Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, often went to Mass.
Biden entered through the main entrance, where there was a Black Lives Matter banner hung on one side and a banner with a quote from Pope Francis on the other: “We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and racism. exclusion in any form and seek to defend the sacredness of all human life. “
The president, in a brief exchange with reporters, said the service was “lovely.” Biden was accompanied to church by his son, Hunter, and two of his grandchildren, Finnegan and Maisy.
Her caravan made a brief stop on her way back to the White House to take her to Call Your Mother, a popular charcuterie shop near the church. The president remained in his armored vehicle while his son picked up the order.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday that Biden had not yet settled in a church in the country’s capital, but said she hoped Biden would continue to attend services regularly during his tenure. presidency.
At home in Delaware, Biden and his wife, Jill, were regulars in St. Louis. Joseph, at Brandywine, in Greenville. They alternated services on Saturday and Sunday based on their travel schedules throughout the 2020 campaign. Catholic faithful are required to attend Sunday services, but church teaching allows them to fulfill the commitment by attending a service the evening of the previous day.
The newly Democratic jury has certain parish options in Washington: four Catholic churches are less than 2 miles from the White House; The Holy Trinity is a little further.
On the morning of its inauguration Wednesday, Biden and his family, along with Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress, attended a service at one of those churches, St. Matthew the Apostle Cathedral. The church hosted Kennedy’s funeral service in 1963.
With the coronavirus still in the capital, Biden will have to see small crowds wherever he goes. For now, District of Columbia rules limit meetings in houses of worship to 25% capacity or 250 people, whichever is less.
Previous presidents have taken a wide variety of cult elections, or none. Not far from the White House is New York Presbyterian Avenue, which holds the bench where Abraham Lincoln once worshiped. Even closer is the Episcopal Church of St. John, which can be strolled through Lafayette Square from the White House for presidents who have made a historic practice of worshiping it at least once.
St. John’s made headlines this summer when police forcibly dispersed protesters so President Donald Trump could put a Bible on the buttery yellow doors. But its status as “Church of the Presidents” dates back to James Madison, and he is accustomed to the special examination that is achieved with the accommodation of commanders-in-chief. Trump, who often spent Sundays at his eponymous golf club in northern Virginia, was not a regular religious man.
President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, became members of the Foundry United Methodist Church, a short drive from the White House that also featured 19th President Rutherford. B. Hayes, as a member.
President Jimmy Carter, who in Sunday life taught Sunday school, worshiped dozens of times at Washington’s first Baptist church during his stay in the White House.
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Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Elana Schor contributed to this report.