Biden is the second Catholic president in the history of the United States, and the weekly mass is expected to be a fixed part of his schedule. This is a level of devotion to regular religious services not seen by recent presidents, who were professing Christians, but attended church intermittently or worshiped privately while in office.
And while it is unclear whether he will adopt a permanent parish in Washington during his term, Biden’s visit to the church will provide a window into how his spiritual side aligns with his policy.
Biden stayed inside the Holy Trinity for at least 35 minutes and his grandchildren, Maisy and Finnegan, and their son, Hunter, accompanied the president to Sunday’s religious service. Asked how the service went, he replied, “lovely.”
Catholicism is an integral part of Biden’s life, who has attended Mass since childhood and attends Catholic schools. He married his late first wife, Neilia, in a Catholic church and spices his political speech with quotes from Scripture, Catholic hymns and references to the nuns and priests he learned at school.
He attended Holy Trinity during his time as Vice President of former President Barack Obama. The church – Washington’s oldest Catholic church, according to Holy Trinity – was also attended regularly by the first Catholic president of the United States, John F. Kennedy.
On the morning of his inauguration, Biden attended a religious service at St. Matthew the Apostle’s Cathedral in Washington, DC, with all four congressional leaders.
CNN Allie Malloy, Michael Warren and Jason Hoffman contributed to this report.
