EVAN VUCCI / AP.
Incoming US President Joe Biden, who will become the nation’s second Roman Catholic president, has attended a mass at Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington on the morning of his inauguration as 46th US President.
He was in the company of his wife Jill Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, as well as Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and House leader Kevin McCarthy.
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It’s a church Biden attended both as vice president and as a senator, and it was the site of a service for the first Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, after his 1963 assassination.
Father Kevin O’Brien, the president of Santa Clara University, delivered the homily. Violinist Patricia Treacy, soprano Renée Fleming and the St. Augustine Gospel Choir ministered.
Biden earlier made calls for unity after the four tumultuous years of his predecessor, President Trump, that peaked when a pro-Trump mob stormed U.S. Capitol in an effort to overturn the results of the presidential election.
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Presidents-elect frequently attend a church service prior to their swearing in, often at St. John’s Episcopal Church across Lafayette Square from the White House.
St. Matthews Cathedral was established in 1840. It’s named for the patron saint of civil servants.
Meanwhile, the outgoing US President Donald Trump has left the White House. Trump left today taking off from the lawn of White House in the company of his wife Melania.
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Marine One which conveyed the President took him around the premises of the White House to give him a final view before arriving at Joint Base Andrews.
Biden, who defeated Trump at the US presidential election of November 3, 2020, will now be sworn-in at 17:00 GMT.
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The event will not be attended by Trump who continues to maintain his claim that the election was stolen from him.
The inauguration will, however, be graced by the outgoing Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell and other leaders of Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP (Grand Old Party).
