The full context of Augustine’s line is perhaps not as rosy as Joe Biden might have suggested.

If all the nominees the president-elect has chosen are confirmed, the Cabinet will have diverse religious backgrounds. The majority are Catholic, with five Jews, two Black Baptists and two Hindus.

The story of Joe Biden can be told in many ways. But from my vantage point, it is the story of one soul’s journey from darkness to light, from Good Friday to Easter Sunday.

In a message to the second Catholic president, Pope Francis prayed that Joe Biden would work to heal the divisions in U.S. society and promote human dignity and peace around the globe.

Hours before his inauguration, President-elect Joe Biden, his family, friends and congressional leaders of both parties gathered for Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.

Cardinal Dolan said President-elect Joe Biden “speaks with admirable sensitivity about protecting the rights of the weakest and most threatened” but also “ran on a platform avidly supporting this gruesome capital punishment for innocent preborn babies.”

In 2015, Father Leo O’Donovan presided over the funeral Mass for Beau Biden following his death from brain cancer. Tomorrow, he will deliver the invocation at Joe Biden’s inauguration.

The power of pardon should be directed toward repairing the failures of the legal system; toward those whose needs are especially pronounced; and toward the building up of a culture of mercy and forgiveness.

Joe Biden will deliver his inaugural address just two weeks after an ‘unprecedented attack on our democracy,’ says former White House speechwriter Terry Szuplat. We can expect a call for unity—and accountability.

“There can be no justice on the fly in matters of life and death.”