World
January 21, 2021
World leaders said they were looking forward to Wednesday’s transfer of power in the United States, where Democrat Joe Biden will be sworn in as president after four turbulent years under Donald Trump.
Top EU officials voiced relief that they would soon have a friend in the White House again. Let’s build a new founding pact for a stronger Europe, for a stronger America and for a better world, said Charles Michel, president of the European Council. This time-honoured ceremony on the steps of the US Capitol will be a demonstration of the resilience of American democracy, added European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. And the resounding proof that, once again, after four long years, Europe has a friend in the White House.
President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, attend Mass with their families before the presidential inauguration at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, 2021. (CNS/Reuters/Tom Brenner)
Editor s note: The Jan. 20 Mass in Washington, D.C., on Inauguration Day morning was closed to the public, but the pastoral associate for liturgy and director of music ministries at the St. Matthew s Cathedral, who helped plan the liturgy, shares here the music, readings and prayer selections. Others involved in the planning of the liturgy included the presider, Jesuit Fr. Kevin O Brien; the rector, Msgr. Ronald Jameson; the parochial vicar, Fr. John Benson; and members of the Biden-Harris inauguration committee.
Biden, 78, will be sworn in shortly before noon (1700 GMT) outside the Capitol, which was targeted in a deadly assault by pro-Trump protesters exactly two weeks ago.
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Published 20 January 2021
President-elect Joe Biden has arrived at the US Capitol where he would be sworn-in as the 46th US President.
He was accompanied by his wife Jill Biden.
The incoming Vice President Kamala Harris has also arrived and accompanied by her spouse Douglas Emhoff.
Also present to grace the ceremony is a former US President Barack Obama and his wife Mitchell Obama.
Hours ago,
AFP reported that Biden attended a mass at St Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington DC, accompanied by Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress in a symbol of unity ahead of his inauguration.
US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris along with their family members attended a prayer meeting at a local historic church in downtown Washington DC before going to the Capitol Hill for their inauguration. Biden and Harris along with their families attended Mass at The Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. They were joined by bipartisan congressional leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senator and JCCIC Chair Amy Klobuchar. Father Kevin O Brien delivered the homily. Violinist Patricia Treacy, soprano Rene Fleming and the St. Augustine Gospel Choir performed.