By Christopher White
Jesuit Fr. Leo O Donovan, former president of Georgetown University, will deliver the invocation at Joe Biden s presidential inauguration on Jan. 20.
O Donovan confirmed to NCR that Biden had personally called him and invited him to offer the prayer at the inauguration, which will mark the election of the nation s second Catholic president, and that he had accepted.
O Donovan is a longtime friend of the Biden family. In 2015, he presided at the funeral Mass for Biden s oldest son, Beau, after he died of brain cancer at the age of 46.
Biden is known to be close with a number of Jesuit priests, and while he was vice president, he occasionally attended Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown. In 1992, when Biden s son Hunter was a senior at Georgetown, O Donovan invited the then-senator from Delaware to give a lecture at the Jesuit university on his faith and public life. Biden told O Donovan at the time it was the toughest assignment he s ever had
Jesuit Fr. Leo O Donovan is seen in a 2017 file photo. (Wikimedia Commons/Netherlands Embassy/Stephen Voss)
Jesuit Fr. Leo O Donovan, former president of Georgetown University, will deliver the invocation at Joe Biden s presidential inauguration on Jan. 20.
O Donovan confirmed to NCR that Biden had personally called him and invited him to offer the prayer at the inauguration, which will mark the election of the nation s second Catholic president, and that he had accepted.
O Donovan is a longtime friend of the Biden family. In 2015, he presided at the funeral Mass for Biden s oldest son, Beau, after he died of brain cancer at the age of 46.
Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has bemoaned the loss of pioneer Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Orlu, His Grace, Most Rev. (Dr.) Gregory Ochiagha, describing the deceased as a soldier of Christ.
Bishop Ochiagha died on December 29, 2020, aged 89, at the Annunciation Hospital, Enugu where he was receiving medical attention after a brief illness.
He transited at a time the Catholic Church faithful in Orlu were planning a thanksgiving service in his honour.
Bishop Ochiagha was ordained a priest in 1960, working in God’s vineyard for 60 years, out of which 40 years were spent in the Episcopacy.
He served as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlu, Nigeria, from 1981 until 2008, and till his death, his name was synonymous with the Catholic Diocese of Orlu.
President in the pews: Where will Biden worship in Washington?
Nation’s second Catholic president will have many options.
(Carolyn Kaster | AP file photo) President-elect Joe Biden leaves after mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020, in Wilmington, Del.
By Will Weissert and Elana Schor | The Associated Press
| Jan. 1, 2021, 5:54 a.m.
Wilmington, Del. • His motorcade thunders around Delaware, snarling traffic. Everywhere he goes, a security team envelops him and a pack of journalists trails behind.
Yet President-elect Joe Biden enters his church, St. Joseph on the Brandywine, with startlingly little interruption.
Wearing a dark suit and medical mask, Biden slipped into a polished wooden pew near the back of the sanctuary for a recent Saturday evening Catholic Mass. He was one of about 40 worshippers with attendance limited by the coronavirus pandemic. His row was empty except for a Secret Service agent sitting on the aisle and others
JANE RASCH
Jane Susanne Rasch went to be with our Lord December 27, joining her husband Kenneth Rasch to share their spirit and joy in heaven.
In her 95 years, Fort Dodge has enjoyed Jane’s everlasting positive attitude towards all life while sharing God’s blessings. Her outreach through Sacred Heart church brought much happiness to the community.
Growing up in the family of railroad engineer Joseph Devlin, she graduated from Sacred Heart high school. She was employed at Tobin Packing Company in Fort Dodge and later met Kenneth at a ballroom dancing school.
Sixty-nine years ago they began their marriage with a belief in a big family. “Cheaper by the dozen” they spoke of, but later said forget the cheaper part and focus on the rewards of a loving family. Many family travels in Henrietta (the family bus camper) were enjoyed including executive retreats for the Land Improvement Contractors of America.