{"id":14742,"date":"2020-12-15T12:48:40","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T17:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=14742"},"modified":"2020-12-15T12:48:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T17:48:40","slug":"biden-will-be-the-first-publicly-churchgoing-president-in-decades-expect-faith-on-full-display","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2020\/12\/biden-will-be-the-first-publicly-churchgoing-president-in-decades-expect-faith-on-full-display","title":{"rendered":"Biden Will Be the First Publicly Churchgoing President in Decades, Expect Faith on Full Display"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Gage Skidmore\/WikiCommons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Next month, Biden will become the second Catholic president in U.S. history and is expected to make church a fixed part of his schedule.<\/p>\n

Regular church attendance is something we have not seen from many presidents in recent history.<\/p>\n

Biden did miss church on November 29, the first Sunday of Advent, CNN<\/em> reports, but only because he had broken his foot. The next weekend, he returned to his home parish, St Joseph on the Brandywine in Wilmington, Delaware, for Saturday\u2019s vigil Mass.<\/p>\n

He was also in church the following Tuesday on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, which is a holy day of obligation for those of the Catholic faith.<\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s regular church attendance is a shift from what we\u2019ve seen from recent presidents who professed to be Christian but didn\u2019t attend church regularly or worshipped privately. Biden\u2019s faith is on full display.<\/p>\n

During Trump\u2019s presidency, he did make several appearances at the Episcopal church in West Palm Beach near his resort, along with other evangelical churches across the country, though it wasn\u2019t something he regularly did, CNN<\/em> reports.<\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama would attend Christmas and Easter services while serving in office and while he vacationed in Hawaii, but he was not often seen in the church throughout the year. Former President George W. Bush attended worship privately at Camp David and occasionally attended Washington D.C. and Texas services.<\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s devout faith gives us a glimpse into his faith life and his spiritual faith.<\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s deep faith is a big part of what helped him win over some religious conservatives.<\/p>\n

What many Christians liked about Biden is that his faith was a central part of his persona. He is always worn his faith on his sleeve.<\/p>\n

What you may not know about Biden is that he carries a rosary that belonged to his late son, Beau. Biden has also been open about how his faith has helped him deal with loss, helping him through some of the darkest periods of his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI go to mass, and I\u2019m able to be just alone, even in a crowd,\u201d Biden said in an interview with Stephen Colbert about his faith. \u201cIt\u2019s just a place you can go.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also shared that faith has given him tremendous comfort.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat my faith has done is\u2026 it sort of takes everything about my life \u2014 with my parents and my siblings and all the comforting things. And all the good things that have happened around the culture of my religion and the theology of my religion,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n

You can expect to see Biden in church regularly throughout his presidency.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Joe, faith is both a private devotion \u2013 he prays regularly, he goes to church. But it\u2019s also public. He\u2019s open about and proud that he\u2019s a Catholic,\u201d said Fr. Kevin O\u2019Brien, a friend and spiritual adviser to Biden and his wife Jill, CNN<\/em> reports.<\/p>\n

When Biden assumes office in January, he will become the second Catholic president in U.S. history, following John F. Kennedy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Next month, Biden will become the second Catholic president in U.S. history and is expected to make church a fixed part of his schedule. Regular church attendance is something we have not seen from many presidents in recent history. Biden did miss church on November 29, the first Sunday of Advent, CNN reports, but only…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":565,"featured_media":14296,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3120,2206,2698,3276,2677,3273],"class_list":["post-14742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-biden","tag-catholic","tag-catholic-faith","tag-christian-presidents","tag-joe-biden","tag-presidency"],"yoast_head":"\nBiden Will Be the First Publicly Churchgoing President in Decades, Expect Faith on Full Display<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Regular church attendance is something we have not seen from many presidents in recent history. 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Learn more about what Biden's faith may look like during his presidency.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2020\/12\/biden-will-be-the-first-publicly-churchgoing-president-in-decades-expect-faith-on-full-display\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beliefnet News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-15T17:48:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2020\/09\/JoeBidenImage-e1599842878435.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"466\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lesli White\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Biden Will Be the First Publicly Churchgoing President in Decades, Expect Faith on Full Display","description":"Regular church attendance is something we have not seen from many presidents in recent history. 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