WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden attended mass for the first time since taking office and worshiped Sundays in the church he attended while he was vice president.
Biden, the country’s second Catholic president, chose Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, a few miles from the White House. It’s where the country’s only other Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, often attended mass.
Biden entered through the main entrance, which had a Black Lives Matter banner on one side and a banner on the other with a quote from Pope Francis: “We cannot tolerate or condone racism and exclusion in any form. claim to defend the sanctity of every human life. “
In a brief exchange with reporters, the president said the service was “wonderful.” Biden was accompanied to church by his son, Hunter, and two of his grandchildren, Finnegan and Maisy.
His motorcade made a short stop on the way back to the White House for pick up from Call Your Mother, a popular deli near the church. The president stayed 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 home church in the nation’s capital, but said she expected Biden to continue attending services regularly during his presidency.
At home in Delaware, Biden and his wife, Jill, were regulars at St. Joseph’s at Brandywine in Greenville. They alternated between Saturday and Sunday services depending on their itineraries during the 2020 campaign. Catholic believers have an obligation to attend Sunday services, but Church teaching permits the obligation to be fulfilled by the evening of the Church. attend a service the day before.
The newly-sworn 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 the Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress, attended a service at one of those churches, the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. In 1963 the church hosted the Kennedy funeral service.
With the coronavirus still on the rise in the capital, Biden will no doubt see small crowds wherever he goes. For now, the rules in the District of Columbia limit meetings in places of worship to 25% 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 Avenue Presbyterian, home to the pew where Abraham Lincoln once worshiped. Even closer is St. John’s Episcopal Church, walkable across Lafayette Square from the White House for the Presidents who have historically made it a habit to worship at least once.
St. John’s was pushed into the headlines this summer when police forcibly dispersed protesters so that President Donald Trump could pose with a Bible outside the butter-yellow front door. But her status as the “Church of Presidents” dates back to James Madison, and she is used to the special scrutiny associated with receiving commander-in-chiefs. Trump, who often spent Sundays at his eponymous golf club in northern Virginia, was no ordinary churchgoer.
President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, joined Foundry United Methodist Church, a short drive from the White House where 19th President Rutherford also sat. B. Hayes, as a member.
President Jimmy Carter, who taught Sunday School during his post-presidency life, worshiped at Washington’s First Baptist Church dozens of times during his time in the White House.
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Associated Press authors Will Weissert and Elana Schor contributed to this report.