Biden attends mass at DC church where he worshiped as vice president



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WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden attended mass for the first time since taking office, worshiping Sunday at the church he attended when he was vice president.

Biden, the country’s second Catholic president, chooses Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Georgetown district of Washington, a few miles from the White House. It was here that the country’s only other Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, often went to mass.

Biden entered through the main entrance, where a Black Lives Matter banner was hung on one side and a banner with a quote from Pope Francis was on the other: “We cannot condone or condone racism and exclusion in any form whatsoever and yet claim 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.

His motorcade made a brief stop on the way back to the White House to be picked up by Call Your Mother, a popular grocery store near the church. The president remained in his armored vehicle, while his son took over the order.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday that Biden had yet to move into a home church in the nation’s capital, but said she expected Biden continues to attend services regularly during his presidency.

At home in Delaware, Biden and his wife, Jill, were regulars at St. Joseph’s on the Brandywine in Greenville. They alternated between Saturday and Sunday services depending on their travel schedules throughout the 2020 campaign. Catholic faithful have an obligation to attend Sunday services, but church teaching allows fulfill the commitment by attending a service the night before.

The newly sworn-in Democrat certainly has plenty of parish choices in Washington: four Catholic churches are within two miles of the White House; Holy Trinity is a little further.

On the morning of his inauguration Wednesday, Biden and his family, along with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders, attended a service at one of those churches, St. Matthew the Apostle Cathedral. The church hosted Kennedy’s funeral in 1963.

With the coronavirus still on the rise in the capital, Biden is linked with small crowds everywhere he goes. For now, District of Columbia rules limit gatherings at places of worship to 25 percent of capacity or 250 people, whichever is less.

Past presidents have made a wide variety of worship choices – or none. Not far from the White House is New York Presbyterian Avenue, which maintains the bench where Abraham Lincoln once worshiped. Even closer is St. John’s Episcopal Church, within walking distance across Lafayette Square from the White House for presidents who have made a historic practice of worship there at least once.

St. John’s made headlines this summer when police forcibly dispersed protesters so President Donald Trump could pose with a Bible outside his butter-yellow front doors. But his status as “Church of Presidents” goes back to James Madison, and he’s used to the special examination that goes with commanders in chief. Trump, who frequently spent Sundays at his namesake golf club in northern Virginia, was not a regular practitioner.

President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, became members of Foundry United Methodist Church, a short drive from the White House which also had 19th President Rutherford. B. Hayes, as a member.

President Jimmy Carter, who in post-presidential life taught Sunday School, worshiped dozens of times at First Baptist Church in Washington during his time in the White House.

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Associated Press editors Will Weissert and Elana Schor contributed to this report.

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