Joe Biden inauguration: a majority-owned firm …

Joe biden, the new President of the United States, is determined to put his mark on the leadership, also in terms of electing those who will be part of his cabinet at the level of executive departments, in total fifteen, to which must be added eight key positions in its administration. All except Vice President Kamala Harris (56, daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India) must be ratified by the Senate. Outside of this legal requirement, Biden has named a very diverse squad, in which less than half of them are white, there are four Latinos, six African Americans, three Asian Americans, and parity between them. sexes.

However, one of the unusual characteristics of U.S. government teams is the supremacy of civil servants and civil servants who see themselves as faithful Catholics, as the president, the second Catholic to reach the White House after John Kennedy. Although no one can say that the fact that they confess Catholics is the argument for being summoned, it can be verified that eight are catholic more than five Jews and two Baptists, regardless of those who prefer not to publicly expose their denominational preferences.

In this sense, Biden also differs from its predecessor Donald Trump, who won the presidency four years ago with the support of the white evangelical vote and that he later summoned many representatives of this community to the cabinet. At first glance, this religious group does not appear to be currently represented in the cabinet of the new president.

Joe Biden comes from a family in which he was educated in the principles of Catholicism, he is a devotee who regularly attends weekly mass, assiduously exhibits his Catholic status, makes reference to biblical texts in his speeches and expresses his admiration for Pope Francisco and coincidences with the magisterium of Jorge Bergoglio in several of his encyclicals. In keeping with his religious outlook and regardless of his personal confessional alignment, a decision the new president must confirm is the reopening of the White House Office of Community and Religious Associations that Trump had closed.

The list of Catholics in the cabinet includes Lloyd Austin (Defense); Tom Vilsack (agriculture); Marty Walsh (work); Deb Haaland (interior); Xavier Becerra (Health); Jennifer Granholm (energy); Gina Raimondo (Commerce) and Denis McDonough (Veterans Affairs). To this list must be added the former Secretary of State, John Kerry, who will occupy the post of Special Envoy for the climate, also at ministerial level.

In numbers, Catholics are followed by the Jews: Antony Blinken (Secretary of State); Janet Yellen (Hacienda); Alejandro Mayorkas (National Security); Merrick Garland (Attorney General) and Avril Haines (Director of National Intelligence). Vice President Kamala Harris and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge are Baptists.

At one of his first official events as President-elect, Biden was accompanied by Cardinal Wilton Gregory, Archbishop of Washington. It was to remember the 400,000 victims in the United States as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. Gregory was appointed cardinal last November by Pope Francis. In a TV interview Biden himself participated in in December, he reported that The cardinal called him to congratulate him on his electoral victory and sent him a copy of the Pope’s latest book, Let Us Dream, signed by Bergoglio and that the pontiff gave to Gregory on his return from the Vatican.

“There has never been a more Catholic administration in the history of the United States.. “said the director of the Bernardin Center of the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago. Steven Millies, as recorded by reporter Christopher White, of the Catholic Reporter (NCR), in a note referring specifically to the presence of Catholics in Biden’s team.

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