By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi, Sept 10, 2023: A private Mass was celebrated in a luxury hotel for United States President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic.
The US embassy in the Indian capital requested Father Nicholas Dias, secretary of the liturgy commission of the archdiocese of Delhi, to offer the private Mass with Biden.
Father Dias celebrated the Mass at 9 am on September 9 at Maurya Sheraton Hotel where the US president stayed during the G20 Summit.
President Biden sought divine blessings ahead of the Summit in the Indian capital.
A few Catholics also attended the Mass celebrated in the private room of the president.
President Biden reportedly wanted to receive the Holy Communion before the September 9-10 summit began.
The president also read the intercessory prayers. Father Dias and President Biden also shared about the Catholic faith.
After the Mass that lasted 30 minutes, President Biden gifted Father Dias a seal of the President of the United States- only gifted to special people. The medal number was 261.
Father Dias, a native of Goa, gifted President Biden Bebinca if Indo-Portuguese origin, popular as the queen sweets of the western Indian state.
“I had a packet with me and decided at the last moment to gift to the President,” Father Dias said.
He said the US embassy people came to take him to the embassy. The embassy has already made all the arrangements for the Mass. They kept the number of people at the Mass to the minimum for security reasons.
President Biden’s personal doctor was attended the Mass.
Source: News9live