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 nation’s second Catholic president, chose the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, just a few miles from the White House. It is where the only other Catholic president in the country, John F. Kennedy, used to go to mass.
Biden entered through the front door, where a Black Lives Matter banner was hanging on one side and a banner with a quote from Pope Francis was on the other: “We cannot tolerate or close our eyes to racism and exclusion in any way and still claim defend the sacredness of every human life. “
The president, in a brief exchange with reporters, said the service was “lovely”. Biden was accompanied to the church by his son, Hunter, and two of his grandchildren, Finnegan and Maisy.
His entourage made a brief stop on the way back to the White House to take at Call Your Mother, a popular deli near the church. The president remained in his armored vehicle while his son received the order.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday that Biden had not yet set up a local church in the nation’s capital, but said she hoped Biden would continue to attend services regularly during his presidency.
At home in Delaware, Biden and his wife, Jill, were regulars at St. Joseph on Brandywine in Greenville. They alternated between Saturday and Sunday services, depending on their travel schedules throughout the 2020 campaign. Catholic believers have an obligation to attend Sunday religious services, but Church teaching allows the commitment to be fulfilled by attending a religious service the night of the previous day.
The newly installed Democrat certainly has many parish options in Washington: four Catholic churches are less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the White House; The Holy Trinity is a little further away.
On the morning of his inauguration, Wednesday, Biden and his family, along with Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders, attended a service at one of these churches, the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. The church hosted Kennedy’s funeral in 1963.
With coronavirus still growing in the capital, Biden is sure to see small crowds wherever he goes. For the time being, District of Columbia rules limit meetings in houses of worship to 25% capacity or 250 people, whichever is less.
Past presidents have made a wide variety of worship choices – if any. Not far from the White House is New York’s Presbyterian Avenue, which maintains the bank where Abraham Lincoln adored. Even closer is the Episcopal Church of St. John, which can be traversed by Lafayette Square from the White House for presidents who have done a historic worship practice there at least once.
St. John’s made headlines this summer, when police forcibly dispersed protesters so that President Donald Trump could pose with a Bible outside his yellow doors. But its “Church of Presidents” status dates back to James Madison, and is used to the special scrutiny that accompanies commander-in-chiefs. Trump, who often spent Sundays at his eponymous golf club in northern Virginia, did not attend church regularly.
President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, became members of the Foundry United Methodist Church, a short distance from the White House, which also had the 19th president, Rutherford. B. Hayes, as a member.
President Jimmy Carter, who during his life after the presidency taught in Sunday school, worshiped dozens of times at Washington’s First Baptist Church during his time at the White House.
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Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Elana Schor contributed to this report.