Welcome to Wednesday. President-elect Joe Biden is a regular fixture at his home parish in Delaware, but which church will he choose to attend in Washington, D.C.? This weekend's "Jericho March" featured clergy and religious figures invoking their Christian faith while supporting President Donald Trump. Join us on Facebook Live today as we announce our 2020 Newsmaker of the Year.
The drive from President-elect Joe Biden's home in Greenville, Delaware, to his parish of St. Joseph on the Brandywine takes all of about three minutes.
During the 2020 election, reporters became quickly familiar with the 0.6 mile trek to the church, where Biden would regularly attend Mass on Sundays (or occasionally the vigil Mass on Saturday night), where he began his morning on Election Day and, more recently, where he was in attendance for the feast of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8.
Next month, when the president-elect changes addresses, he'll face a decision that many first families have faced: where to attend church?
As the nation's second Catholic president, as part of a faith that teaches there is a Sunday obligation to attend Mass, and as a candidate and now president-elect that has shown he's taken it seriously, Biden will have a range of options.
Read more of the story here.
More background:
It isn't every day that you see a Catholic priest, in this case Fr. Greg Bramlage of Colorado, standing on the National Mall in the nation's capital, pronouncing prayers of exorcism. But that's what happened at this weekend's "Jericho March," a protest featuring clergy and religious figures invoking their Christian faith while supporting President Donald Trump.
The event also included a statement from the former ambassador to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, wedding the biblical story of Jericho to his penchant for QAnon conspiracy theories, and a prayer for thanksgiving from Fr. Frank Pavone.
"And what off-the-charts bonkers religio-political event would be complete without an appearance by Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas?" asks NCR political columnist Michael Sean Winters. The bishop's prayer was "among the more normal of the bizarre day, knee deep in Christian nation nonsense, but at least not obsequious when speaking of the nation's most conspicuous sore loser. Still, the presence of a Catholic bishop, a successor of the apostles, at this jamboree of conspiracy theory carnival was shocking."
You can read more of Winters' column here.
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Final thoughts
Join us today at 1:30 p.m. Central as we announce our 2020 Newsmaker of the Year. NCR executive editor Heidi Schlumpf will host child advocate and best-selling author Mark Kennedy Shriver, NCR national correspondent Christopher White and NCR political columnist Michael Sean Winters to talk about our decision. Follow NCR on Facebook to keep up-to-date with all of our news and events.
Until Thursday,
Stephanie Yeagle
NCR Production/Online Editor
[email protected]
Twitter: @ncrSLY
